Locked On Cardinals - Daily Podcast On The St. Louis Cardinals - BREAKOUT: St. Louis Cardinals' Jordan Walker SHINES While Nolan Gorman STRUGGLES in 2026 Start

Starting point is 00:00:00 We are 18 games into the season. It's time to take a look at the good and the bad of this offense this far in 2026. This is Lockdown Cardinals. You are Locked on Cardinals. Your daily St. Louis Cardinals podcast, part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day. Hey there, Cardinal fans. I'm J.D. Hafer and today's episode brought to you by Game Time.

Starting point is 00:00:28 Download the Game Time map, create an account, use code locked on for $20 off your first purchase. On today's show, we're going to unpack. what we've seen from the Cardinals so far this season. Biggest surprises and disappointments from the offense. And we're going to do our normal checkup on the minor league guys and the rest of the NL Central. You will not believe the score of the Peoria Chiefs game from Thursday. It was, it was big. Plenty of good things and also some bad to discuss.

Starting point is 00:00:54 So what I'm going to do is kind of go back and forth here between players and things. So let's start with the good stuff because we like to stay as positive as we can on this show. And obviously, when we're talking good stuff about this Cardinals offense, you got to start with number 18, Jordan Walker. Who else? Who else you're going to start with? You know, what Jordan is doing so far this season has been as unexpected as you can get. People were hoping for a turnaround.

Starting point is 00:01:18 You know, last year Walker hit 21 RBI with six home runs and 41 RBIs in almost 400 plate appearances. He was a minus 1.7 war. And this spring, he really didn't look all that much better. Everybody was really, really worried so much that in, in a meeting that we had with manager Ali Marmal, he was like, look, guys, we got to get this thing figured out. You know, this is what keeps us up at night, is trying to figure out how to unlock what Jordan Walker can be and make him the guy that us fans and the organization want him to be.

Starting point is 00:01:55 He's always had the tools. We just have to figure out how to get it all worked out, work out the kinks in his swing, get him to hit the ball in the air more instead of on the ground. There was a nice base to work with, but they just, it just wasn't, wasn't happening for whatever reason. And on April 3rd, he was hitting 2-17 with one home run and three RBIs with six strikeouts and three walks. Nothing was really getting better. People were already like, get him out of here. I mean, a lot of people wanted him to start at Memphis to begin the season. They're like, dude, he sucked this spring to get him out of here. We don't, no, we don't have time to this. It was really rough to watch. Then on April 4th, everything changed. Jordan Walker launches a

Starting point is 00:02:34 grand slam that went almost 460 feet in Detroit and finished three for four on the day with five RBIs in that 11 to six loss to the Tigers. And it was like the light bulb finally went off over Jordan's head. Like, and finally when I say off, I mean, it finally went bing. So it went on, really. you know, like you would see in a cartoon. In an interview, I think that he said that one of the reasons that he thinks things are better is that he finally quit thinking so much and started letting the things that he has been working on, the teachings, the mechanics that he's worked on, and just let them happen instead of thinking about them in the box. And I said something about that this spring where I was like, you look at him and he's in the box.

Starting point is 00:03:17 And after each swing and after each pitch, you can see him like the wheels turning in his head. And I'm like, oh, my gosh, he's just, he's just in his head too much. He's thinking too much. Like, you are a great athlete. Just go out and do it. And that's what he decided to do. He started to react into the baseball instead of thinking about every pitch. And the guy has been on another planet ever since, including that game on the fourth.

Starting point is 00:03:42 Jordan is now hitting 370 with seven home runs, 12 RBIs, nine runs scored. It's got a couple stolen bases in there, has a 408 OBP, 840.4. 48 slugging OPS at 1.256 and an OPS plus of 205. It has been bonkers. He's hitting 417 on balls that he puts in play. The strikeouts are there. He's had 15 of them and 49 played appearances. But what have I always said?

Starting point is 00:04:12 When you're doing damage the way he is with the ones that you do put in play, those strikeouts become a bit more tolerable. He's also settled in nicely in right field defensively. no longer the liability that he once was when he first came up. And he continues to have one of the most feared arms in the game. Earlier this season, he uncorked the throw. It was triple digits. So the league has noticed such things.

Starting point is 00:04:37 And they are not running on Jordan Walker anymore. They're also having a tough time figuring out how to get them out on a regular basis. You know, he's currently writing an 11 game winning streak or winning streak, hitting streak after hitting a double late in Wednesday's win over Cleveland. Like there's not a whole lot to complain here about Jordan Walker. The only disappointing thing about Jordan's tear is that the Cardinals haven't really taken all that much advantage of him doing what he's doing. There are only six and five since Jordan caught fire. And part of that has been because of the disappointing seasons from Jordan's surrounding cast.

Starting point is 00:05:12 The guy I'm going to single out here. And these two go hand in hand, it seems because they, you know, they came up around the same time as Nolan Gorman. Nolan Gorman is the first name I think of when I think of disappointing starts for the team. And that's because things look so much better for him this spring. You know, the way Jordan Walker looks right now is kind of the way Gorman looked in Jupiter. And I don't mean the crazy power numbers that, you know, Walker is putting up. But the confidence that Walker displays when he comes to the plate now is something that I was seeing from Nolan Gorman this spring. And it appears to have all but vanished again, less than 20 games into the state.

Starting point is 00:05:50 season. And I know spring training stats don't matter a whole lot, but at least it seemed as though that Gorman had figured some things out, figured some things out to help to help conquer what has been his biggest problem since he's been a pro, and that is the strikeouts. It looked like he was cutting down his strikeouts and was being smarter with his, you know, swing selection. This spring, he struck out eight times and 39 at bats while taking seven walks. You'll take that while he's at. three home runs and driving in six. That's the kind of production you will take. You'll be like, all right, I'll give a little here with the strikeouts if I'm getting this

Starting point is 00:06:29 with the bat. And so far in 2026, he's had 53 at bats and it struck out a team high 19 times compared to seven walks. He's doing it again. The strikeout percentage. Yeah, it's down a little bit from 33.8 last year to 30.6 this year, but it's still way too high. And he's only got two home runs to show for it. And both of those came in March. The line drive percentage is down. The ground ball percentage is up. It's like he's what Jordan Walker was before Jordan Walker started to go off here. Now, he did have one home run robbed. I'll give him credit on that one. James Wood, you son of a gun. But I was certainly hoping for more from Nolan Gorman. And thus far, it just hasn't been there. It really hasn't. Since hitting his last home run on March 30th,

Starting point is 00:07:19 is batting 179 with no home runs, four ribbies, and 16 strikeouts and 48 plate appearances. It's simply not good enough. You need more from him because eventually Walker is going to come back down to earth. There's no way he's going to stay up at this level where he is right now. At least we think. And someone else is going to need to step up and I would love to see Nolan Gorman become that guy that, you know, I want those two to be kind of like the Bash brothers for us on this team. And thus far, Gorman has been a disappointment. I'm sorry. So I hope for good things. I want to stay positive for him. But you got to produce eventually. They're giving you the at-bats. You got the starting job at third base, which he's done well defensively. I don't want to

Starting point is 00:08:11 take that away from him. Part of the reason this team is winning so much is because of the defense. That's been a big part. But the offensive side of things for Gorman, nah, not so great. More of the good and the bad from the first 10% of the season. We're going to talk about JJ Weatherholt next on Locked on Cardinals. MLB season is back. You can feel that we've got fresh starts, big expectations. You got the crack of the bat and whether it's a breakout rookie that you're watching like JJ or a division race that goes down to the wire like the NL Central. is right now super tight. There's nothing like being in the ballpark for it. The only problem is getting tickets sometimes can be a hassle and you got to deal with a bunch of things that you don't

Starting point is 00:08:53 want to. Long queues, surprise fees. Price is jumping up at checkout. Nobody wants that. And that's where game time comes in to help you out. The game time app's going to give you the fan the advantage with constant innovation. It's how you unlock amazing tickets and experiences. You're doing just a few steps. It's very simple to use. The game time guarantee means you're going to get 100% authentic tickets delivered on time at the best price. And the best part is those fees that, you know, I mentioned that sometimes pop up on you, not with game time. Fees are included in the price you see. So what you see is what you pay, period. They got seat views, which is huge, especially when you're visiting a ballpark that you're not all that familiar with. Zone deals, let me pick the

Starting point is 00:09:34 section and save even more while game time selects the seats. You can follow your favorite teams, get alerts when new deals drop, two taps, and it's done. No stress and no hidden fees. just great seats and you get it in minutes and that's what makes it easy to decide last minute to, you know what, I'm going to go hit a game. Let me get on game time real quick. So take the guesswork out of buying MLB tickets with game time. Download the game time app, create an account, use code locked on for $20 off your first purchase, terms apply. Again, create an account, reading code L-O-C-E-D-O-N for $20 off. Download the game time app today. Thanks for making Lockdown Cardinals, your first listen every day. Thank you for making it

Starting point is 00:10:15 locked on the Never One Sports Podcast Network. With baseball back, it's time to celebrate. We're giving you a free month for everyday or club for free. You're going to lock on STL Cardinals. That supercast.com. Use code finally. You'll unlock every episode, add free, and get access to our private listener, group chat.

Starting point is 00:10:30 Just tap the link in the show notes. Use code finally to claim your free month. Top prospect, JJ Weatherholt. How impressive is this young man then? It has been everything that this team could have asked for in the beginning of his cardinals career. He's been basically fly. in the total package. There is not anything JJ hasn't done yet in a positive matter for this team.

Starting point is 00:10:52 You want power? All right. He's got three home runs so far this season. Opening day hit a home run. And all three of these home runs have gone to all three spots on the field. Opening day was center field, then right field, then left field with the two home run game on Tuesday against Cleveland. You want speed? Sure. We got that for you too. He leads the club and stolen bases with four. He seemingly gets on base a couple of times each and every night out of the leadoff position, which is huge, whether it's a hit, whether it's a walk. He doesn't care. He's patient, which is why we wanted him in the leadoff spot in the first place after seeing him perform this spring. He's second on the team with 12 walks so far this season. Trails only Yvonne Herrera, who is on another level right now with the walks. He's tied with Yorna Alvarez and Nick Kurtz for the league lead with 18 of them. What? He's on base for 162 walks. All right. Among second baseman, he's fifth in the league and walks. He's tied for fourth and stolen bases. And this is the whole league, not the national league, the entire major league baseball league among second basement, fifth in the league in walks, tied for fourth and stolen bases, tied for third and runs scored, tied for fifth in RBIs. He's top 10 in OBP, slugging in OPS. And let's not forget about the job that he's doing defensively as well. Currently, first in the league in outs above average at plus five. for second baseman and is a plus one in defensive runs saved. The dude is special.

Starting point is 00:12:21 And I like so many other fans are hoping that his name will be the one that we see on the ESPN ticker here or at MLB on the MLB channel at some point added to the list of young players who gets one of those nice, long, massive extensions, the way that, you know, Detroit's done with McDonagall, Pittsburgh has done with Connor Griffith. Milwaukee's done it with a couple of their guys. It's something that they've pounced on. Jackson Turyo was somebody they did it right away. And they also did it with one of their minor league guys.

Starting point is 00:12:55 They're getting ahead of this, which is what as a smaller market team, you kind of got to do. Because if they continue to go off, that money is only going to get more and more expensive and eventually you're going to price yourself out. So JJ, absolutely awesome. It's been a treat to watch them.

Starting point is 00:13:15 far and I feel like he's only going to get better and I look forward to it. As far as the rest of the offense goes, you know, you would love to see more pop from Ivan Herrera who's still, he's not getting the hits, but he did get his first dinger the other day. And it just, I keep saying it because eventually I'm going to be right, but it's just a matter of time before Ivan Herrera breaks out and it's going to happen. It's going to happen. He's obviously seeing the ball well with all those walks and it's going to happen.

Starting point is 00:13:44 He's too good of a hitter for it not to start to go more in his in his favor as far as balls he's putting to play and stuff. Burley, he's starting to get hot again, mention that three multi-hit games in his last four, so not worried about him. Mason Wynne has not gotten off to a very good start. Not a whole lot has gone good for Mason Wynn and not only just play on the field with his bat, but also injury-wise. Like he just keeps getting dinged up all kinds of little things. He's got a car accident that did. didn't help any matters either. So again, we're waiting to see him step up offensively. Maybe it'll happen. Maybe it won't. We know he's great with the glove, but I would love to get

Starting point is 00:14:24 a little bit more on a mason win for sure. In the outfield, Walker, obviously, has been a beast, but Victor Scott hasn't really been great. Now, he's hitting 255, which I think he would have hit 216 last year. So obviously, it's an improvement, but his OBP is under 300 right now. You cannot utilize that speed if you're not on base. And I haven't seen as much of him bunting recently. Maybe it's just been the situations he's in, but I was enjoying that for a while. Just like keep,

Starting point is 00:14:56 keep bringing these third baseman to first baseman. And it's going to help you out in the long run when you start hitting the ball better and squared it up to get it past them. Left field, we, we knew that this was going to be a subpar section of the team with Lars Newpar out. You know, you got the grouping of Nathan Church, Thomas Ujacy and Jose Fermin, and we didn't expect it to be great. And it hasn't been.

Starting point is 00:15:19 Now they've had their moments, obviously, with Nathan Church, with the walkoff sack the other night. He hit the home run. But overall, left field for the Cardinals has been one of the least productive left fields in baseball. The group as a whole is hitting 227 with no home runs. That's right. Technically, they do not have a home run from a left fielder yet.

Starting point is 00:15:40 Church was in center field when he hit that home run against, Washington. So they have shown no pop whatsoever. They've struck out a combined 22 times and only walk three times. So they're not getting on base. They got the fourth lowest OPS among left fielder's ahead of only the Reds, Giants, and Rockies. Will this get better when Lars Newpar comes up? How do they alter the roster when Lars Newpar is ready to go? I don't know. When is Lars Newpar going to be ready to go? I have no idea. I haven't heard a whole lot on the Newpar front. So I don't know. But at least you're starting to see, you know, Nathan Church was involved heavily with the win against Cleveland. Maybe he's starting to get his bearings back. Had a nice spring. He was the guy that I was

Starting point is 00:16:25 really excited about where I'm like of the like bit players that this team has that it's going to be coming off the bench and, you know, it's not a, yeah, a name brand guy that everybody's going to be, you know, very familiar with. Nathan Church was the guy that I thought was going to be better. It hasn't been that way. Had a great opening day and then just vanished for two weeks. And now you're starting to see him contribute a whole lot more. So I hope to see more from him. Obviously, JC was taking a while to come around,

Starting point is 00:16:54 but we've seen him have a couple of nice moments. So hopefully it'll get better because it can't get much worse. As a whole for this team, offensively so far in 2026, the Cardinals are 22nd in batting average. And this is league-wide, 20-second abetting average. 22nd of batting average, 14th and on-base percentage, 22nd in slugging, and 16th in OPS. So none of that is all that great.

Starting point is 00:17:18 A lot of middle of the road to just below middle of the road. They are 17th and runs scored. Tied for 25th and hits. Tied for 27th in doubles, which is a little weird, that they're not hitting any doubles whatsoever. Last in triples, because they don't have any, which is fine. Tide for 10th in home runs. Thank you, Jordan Walker.

Starting point is 00:17:37 Where would we be without you? tied for 15th in RBIs again, Jordan Walker doing a lot of the heavy lifting there. 10th and walks. We're getting a lot of walks from a lot of people. JJ and Yvonne, obviously at the top of the list there. Fourth lowest strikeout total, which is something that I will always appreciate. At least you're putting the ball in play. You're giving yourself a chance.

Starting point is 00:17:56 And when you do, the defense of the other side has to perform well all the time. And as we've seen, they're going to make mistakes. And the Cardinals have been one of the best teams in baseball. as far as taking advantage of those mistakes. They're tied for 13th and stolen bases. They run the bases very, very well. Fundamentally, this team has been really, really good, which is what you have to be when you don't have a lot of star power around you.

Starting point is 00:18:26 There's a lot of like, they're pretty good players, you know. Some of these guys could be stars at some point. Jordan Walker's performing like a star. J.G. Weatherholt is a star in the making. But Alec Berlinson, Yvonne Herrera, They're like really good players, but they're not special in any way at this point. But it takes all of that, you know, you got to cut down mistakes and you got to take advantage of your opponent's mistakes to win. And that's what they've been doing.

Starting point is 00:18:51 Running the base is well. Defense, as I mentioned, best in the league right now currently first and outs above the average with a plus 11. Their third in defensive runs saved with 13 behind the Dodgers in Arizona, which when you combine them puts the Cardinals as the number one defensive team in baseball right now. You know, that's something that this fan base appreciates. You know, we love seeing good defense, and that's what we've gotten this far. Up next, we're going to jump down to the miners, check in on our top prospects and the rest of the NL Central with both teams who were ahead of the Cardinals coming into Thursday. They were in action, so I'll let you know how they did. And we'll talk about that ridiculous Peoria Chief score.

Starting point is 00:19:28 It was like they played on a football field. Wait until you see this one. It's coming up on Lockdown Cardinals. The NHL playoffs are here, wherever. Every shift matters. Every moment is intense and the pressure is at its highest. Did not get into the playoffs with our St. Louis Blues this year. Made a heck of a run to try to get there. They were, they fell just a little bit short.

Starting point is 00:19:53 But it was exciting to watch the run, wasn't it? To see Jimmy Snuggaroo and Robert Thomas and, you know, the boys, Dylan Holloway, just doing what they did. Like you're excited as a blues fan for what we've got coming in the future. But there's plenty of teams that are still in the playoffs that I'm intrigued to watch. Colorado are disgustingly good. Buffalo, Carolina, Edmonton, Tampa Bay. A lot of great teams in there. And just like performance matters on the ice and matters off the ice too. That's where Rouget comes in. Rousie yet offers treatments designed to help you get ready and stay ready when it matters.

Starting point is 00:20:29 Their top option, Rugee, get ready, combines clinically proven ingredients in a simple mint that just dissolves right under your tongue. Works fast often in about 15 minutes. It can last up to 36 hours. They also offer go long designed to help with both with performance and control. And it's all about confidence. It's all about confidence in feeling like yourself again. Head to rousia.com slash locked on NHL, get 15% off your ED treatment. That's RUG-G-I-E-T dot com slash locked on NHL for 15% off. Rouge yet, performance medicine for men. Once again, thanks for making Lockedong Cardinals. Your first listen of the day. Thank you for making Lockdown on the number one sports podcast network. We wouldn't be here without you. Let's jump down to the

Starting point is 00:21:17 farm. The Memphis Redbirds continued a six game series against the Gwinnett Stripers, who are the AAA affiliate for the Braves. They ended up losing four to two extra inning loss on Thursday at AutoZone Park. Starting pitcher Bruce Zimmerman, the veteran who was on that staff, not a prospect by any means, but he allowed two runs on six sits, walk two struck out seven and five innings of work. Zimmerman's been really good for Memphis so far. He's not on the 40 man roster. So one of the thing that's kind of making me a little nervous is with the injuries that we're starting to see with the pitching staff, you know, at the minor league level with, you know, a guy like Richard Fitz is out. You're starting to lose that depth a little bit. You got Hunter Dobbins on the move and he's

Starting point is 00:22:00 starting to come up and they're going to go to a six-man rotation. I feel when, when he does end up passing his, all of his exams and his rehab is done, I think that's the plan moving forward. But if somebody else gets hurt, like, where do you go next? Because I don't know if there's a lot of prospects that are ready to make that step to the to the big leagues yet. And at least Bruce Zimmerman has been there, but he's done on the 40 man. So they would have to make some moves there. First baseman, Blymouth dress tied the game with a two run shot in the bottom of the ninth inning. Redbird's finished the loss. Oh, for six with runners in scoring position. Not good. Speaking of good, though, Brian Torres continues to rake. My guy down at Memphis, five foot seven.

Starting point is 00:22:43 he's like the Rudy of baseball, five foot nothing, set your 100 and nothing. And this guy, all he does is hit. All he does is hit. Two more hits in the loss. He's batting 3.57 so far from Memphis. But that's back-to-back losses for the Redbirds who are now 12 and 6 after their historic start to the season. Springfield, 10 to 7 winners over Wichita, Chase Davis, former first round pick club, this third home run of the season. Team stole six bases in the win. That's what you like to see. That's fun. You won offense. Check out this Let's go to this Peoria chief score. They defeated Wisconsin.

Starting point is 00:23:17 And no, this is not a football team. 24 to 7. Three touchdowns and a field goal. Wisconsin, they scored once, kicked an extra point. 24 to 7. Are you kidding me? This is baseball. I promise.

Starting point is 00:23:32 Jesus, who came over in that Ryan Helsley deal from the net. Three for five, including a two run home run. He drove in six in this game. Tai Pete, who came over in the Donovan trade, went four for seven, including his third home run of the season and scored four times. Radio Rodriguez, two for five, three runs scored. Rodriguez didn't even have an RBI in this game. You'd expect when they put up 24 runs,

Starting point is 00:23:54 the Rodriguez would account for like 13 of them or something. They didn't even have an RBI in this game, but the rest of the offense just went crazy. Just a huge game for the Chiefs, who moved to four and eight on the season. As far as the NL Central goes, Cardinals and Cubs were off on Thursday, but the pirates, reds and brewers were all in action.

Starting point is 00:24:12 Both the pirates and Reds ended up losing their games. Nats beat Pittsburgh 8 to 7 in 10 innings. Reds got shut out by the Giants, three to nothing. They almost had a brawl in that game twice due to people getting hit by pitches. So that was exciting. Meanwhile, the Brewers beat Toronto 2 to 1. They survived the floods and were able to get to the field. And they beat Toronto 2 to 1, which leaves the standings like this.

Starting point is 00:24:37 Your pirates and reds are at the top of the standings at 11. seven right now. Cardinals and Brewers are just a half game behind them at 10 and eight. And then the Cubs are a game and a half back at nine and nine. Again, the NL Central steady. They're steady, man. They don't have any teams under 500 in the division right now. Pirates are going to be hosting Tampa Bay, who has caught fire. We saw how pesky they could be in that opening series with the Cardinals. They're coming into Pittsburgh riding a six-game winning streak. So that's good for Cardinals because knocking off the Pirates will be good. Reds are going to go to Minnesota who are also hitting their stride right now.

Starting point is 00:25:19 They're 8 and 2 in their last 10 games. It's supposed to be really cold up in Minnesota this weekend too. Cardinals are going to be in Houston where thankfully there's a roof in case there is any sort of weather whatsoever. Houston is 8 and 11 on the season, but they have won two in a row, but their pitching staff is just all out with injuries. So the Cardinals offense really needs to. step up this weekend. Like you've got to take advantage of a team when they're basically putting AAA pitching up there instead of major league pitching. So let's get those bats cooking.

Starting point is 00:25:50 Brewers are going to be at the Miami Marlins who have lost back-to-back games and are under 500 now at 9 and 11. And then the Cubs are at home against the Mets who have dropped eight in a row and are in dead last in the NL East. When we saw the Mets, when the Cardinals played them, they didn't look that bad. They didn't look great. They didn't look that bad. But, uh, It has been a nightmare for them pretty much ever since they left St. Louis. Eight straight losses and last in NL. East and paying what they're paying and payroll. I know Juan Soto was out, but seriously, that's crazy. Like imagine what New York is doing right now about the Mets.

Starting point is 00:26:28 They cannot be happy. But there you go. There's a look at what's going on in the minors, in the NL Central. Thanks for making lockdown cardless your first list every day. Now, if you haven't already, do us a solid. give us a follow on X at L0 underscore Cardinals. We're on TikTok and Instagram and Lockdown Cardinals. Like, subscribe on YouTube.

Starting point is 00:26:44 If you never miss an episode, the Everydayer Club is built for you, you can get Locked on Cardinals ad-free, plus members only Discord access and more of that full free month available. Use the code finally. Head to Locked on SELCardels.com to join the club. For those of you on video, we'll send you to the first ever 24-7,

Starting point is 00:27:00 National Lockdown Podcast Network YouTube channel on audio. Make sure your second list is Locked on MLB. You're the best fans in baseball for a reason. see you next time on locked on cardinals. Let's get them, boys.

Locked On Cardinals - Daily Podcast On The St. Louis Cardinals - BREAKOUT: St. Louis Cardinals' Jordan Walker SHINES While Nolan Gorman STRUGGLES in 2026 Start

There aren't comments yet for this episode. Click on any sentence in the transcript to leave a comment.