Will Walker ever hit?

[blackinkbiz]

He went to azfl and did very well.
Next spring he started strong (against low level pitching) and faded.

Cards in need of a bat jumped the gun and brought him up and tried to mess with his swing and approach while he tried to learn to be an everyday mlb hitter and learn a new position.


They mind (bleep) him and set him up to fail.

To bring him up far too soon before he'd proved himself in the minors, then watch him tie or break or whatever it was the rookie record for most consecutive games with a hit to start a career and THEN, less than a month later publicly state Walker's swing needs to be modified for him to stop hitting so many ground balls ... I've literally NEVER heard of such atrocious coaching and management.

And now they've doubled down on their original mistake so many times they refuse to admit error and I guess "waste" his last option by sending him down. Should have NEVER been made public that his swing needed an overhaul. Should have NEVER tried to overhaul that swing at the MLB level. Should have NEVER rushed him back to MLB every time he had a stretch of 5 games where he looked as though he was putting it together.

Should have been left at AAA last season until he started dominating down there like every other prospect.

This organization has become an abomination. Who would have ever thought this franchise could fall so far so fast after the last 20 years.

Worst part is, they did it to themselves and have no one to blame but the reflection in the mirror.

[Red Bird Classic]

The sad part is that he hit well his rookie year.
He hit 16 HR’s and had a .276 batting average.
Ironically, that.276 was higher than both Goldy and Arenado in 2023.

It takes major league coaches and pitchers a while to figure new hitters out. We saw pretty much the same with Carlson and DeJong: Once these big-league coaches and pitchers find your weakness, they never let up. To be successful, players have to adjust. Some can manage that, some can't.

[scoutyjones2]

Will he ever hit Major league pitching? How long do we give guys like him and Gorman?

He gets next year, his final option year...to work his way from the minors, back to MLB.

[scoutyjones2]

The first thing the Cardinals should have done entering this (don't call it a) rebuild is replace the coaching staff. But this organization has gone overboard with loyalty and did not do so. Their hitting approach remains poor and their pitching approach ruins pitchers. Look at Fernandez. He was effective in the minors, came up throwing effectively, then for some friggin' reason decided to change his delivery and he's sucked ever since. Hello?!

So then the question becomes, is there not a consistent approach to these things throughout the organization? I thought they taught the same batting, pitching, fielding philosophy and approach from Rookie ball to MLB. Am I wrong about that? (Knowing me, I could be!)

I don't think they do anymore, at least during Marmol's tenure.

Well, that seems to add up, doesn’t it?

Yes, because players drafted out of high school, are always successful, as are all top draft picks.

[scoutyjones2]

He went to azfl and did very well.
Next spring he started strong (against low level pitching) and faded.

Cards in need of a bat jumped the gun and brought him up and tried to mess with his swing and approach while he tried to learn to be an everyday mlb hitter and learn a new position.


They mind (bleep) him and set him up to fail.

To bring him up far too soon before he'd proved himself in the minors, then watch him tie or break or whatever it was the rookie record for most consecutive games with a hit to start a career and THEN, less than a month later publicly state Walker's swing needs to be modified for him to stop hitting so many ground balls ... I've literally NEVER heard of such atrocious coaching and management.

And now they've doubled down on their original mistake so many times they refuse to admit error and I guess "waste" his last option by sending him down. Should have NEVER been made public that his swing needed an overhaul. Should have NEVER tried to overhaul that swing at the MLB level. Should have NEVER rushed him back to MLB every time he had a stretch of 5 games where he looked as though he was putting it together.

Should have been left at AAA last season until he started dominating down there like every other prospect.

This organization has become an abomination. Who would have ever thought this franchise could fall so far so fast after the last 20 years.

Worst part is, they did it to themselves and have no one to blame but the reflection in the mirror.

There's the (bleep). Guys built like a pine acker but hits work burners. Yeah, that's a successful recipe. The league figures you out, you need to counter.

[rockondlouie]

Again....

Bloom has no investment in Walker, his failures are all on Mo/Oli's resumes.

Unless he shows something these final weeks and the first half of 2026, then we could see him gone by this time next season

[blackinkbiz]

He went to azfl and did very well.
Next spring he started strong (against low level pitching) and faded.

Cards in need of a bat jumped the gun and brought him up and tried to mess with his swing and approach while he tried to learn to be an everyday mlb hitter and learn a new position.


They mind (bleep) him and set him up to fail.

To bring him up far too soon before he'd proved himself in the minors, then watch him tie or break or whatever it was the rookie record for most consecutive games with a hit to start a career and THEN, less than a month later publicly state Walker's swing needs to be modified for him to stop hitting so many ground balls ... I've literally NEVER heard of such atrocious coaching and management.

And now they've doubled down on their original mistake so many times they refuse to admit error and I guess "waste" his last option by sending him down. Should have NEVER been made public that his swing needed an overhaul. Should have NEVER tried to overhaul that swing at the MLB level. Should have NEVER rushed him back to MLB every time he had a stretch of 5 games where he looked as though he was putting it together.

Should have been left at AAA last season until he started dominating down there like every other prospect.

This organization has become an abomination. Who would have ever thought this franchise could fall so far so fast after the last 20 years.

Worst part is, they did it to themselves and have no one to blame but the reflection in the mirror.

There's the (bleep). Guys built like a pine acker but hits work burners. Yeah, that's a successful recipe. The league figures you out, you need to counter.

For once, I completely agree with you. But ALL of this should have been done at AAA and it should have never become public.

[BrummerStealsHome]

The first thing the Cardinals should have done entering this (don't call it a) rebuild is replace the coaching staff. But this organization has gone overboard with loyalty and did not do so. Their hitting approach remains poor and their pitching approach ruins pitchers. Look at Fernandez. He was effective in the minors, came up throwing effectively, then for some friggin' reason decided to change his delivery and he's sucked ever since. Hello?!

I see some Cardinals are hitting okay. Why didn't the Cardinal coaches mess Donovan, Winn, and Herrera up too?

Maybe the problem is Walker?

Two problems with that thining:

1) It does not follow that if they mess up one player, or some players, that they mess up all. They don't have the same approach to everyone. No one does, the good or the bad.

2) Who's to say they haven't messed up these guys anyway? We don't know. Would Winn be a .300 hitter? etc.?

[Bad14]

No one here knows if the Cardinals messed him up or he just didn't have the ability to hit at this level. A lot of teams passed on him in the draft.

[bgwinn01]

He hit pretty good today.

[WeeVikes]

The first thing the Cardinals should have done entering this (don't call it a) rebuild is replace the coaching staff. But this organization has gone overboard with loyalty and did not do so. Their hitting approach remains poor and their pitching approach ruins pitchers. Look at Fernandez. He was effective in the minors, came up throwing effectively, then for some friggin' reason decided to change his delivery and he's sucked ever since. Hello?!

So then the question becomes, is there not a consistent approach to these things throughout the organization? I thought they taught the same batting, pitching, fielding philosophy and approach from Rookie ball to MLB. Am I wrong about that? (Knowing me, I could be!)

I don't think they do anymore, at least during Marmol's tenure.

Well, that seems to add up, doesn’t it?

Yes, because players drafted out of high school, are always successful, as are all top draft picks.

You’re absolutely right, Scouty. And the jump from the minors to the majors is huge. Not all ball players can handle the promotion. I just wonder if a difference in approach or philosophy exists between the levels and whether that may partly explain why some guys flame out.

[ScotchMIrish]

He is hitting .300 since returning in July. Perhaps talk of trading him was premature.

[blackinkbiz]

He hit pretty good today.

Did he? His first 2 "hits" were laughable from what I heard on the radio. The first was a dropped infield popup that was lost in the sun. The other was a bouncer that hit off the infielder's glove. Was the 3rd hit hopefully a rope somewhere?

[Goldfan]

He should spend some time with M. McGwire.

[Voldemort]

The first thing the Cardinals should have done entering this (don't call it a) rebuild is replace the coaching staff. But this organization has gone overboard with loyalty and did not do so. Their hitting approach remains poor and their pitching approach ruins pitchers. Look at Fernandez. He was effective in the minors, came up throwing effectively, then for some friggin' reason decided to change his delivery and he's sucked ever since. Hello?!

I see some Cardinals are hitting okay. Why didn't the Cardinal coaches mess Donovan, Winn, and Herrera up too?

Maybe the problem is Walker?

Two problems with that thining:

1) It does not follow that if they mess up one player, or some players, that they mess up all. They don't have the same approach to everyone. No one does, the good or the bad.

2) Who's to say they haven't messed up these guys anyway? We don't know. Would Winn be a .300 hitter? etc.?

Brummer is correct, and one size does not fit all. However, there are "absolutes" that an organization should agree on so that hitters get the same attention to detail and coaching. Besides an organization agreeing on certain "absolutes," their approach to at-bats needs to be consistent. For example, imo, hitters should be told to have an approach at the plate that is, "yes, yes, yes, ... no" or "yes, yes, yes swing." Too often for this team, it looks like the approach is to take a 1st pitch fastball. Opposing teams recognize who does that in the order and take advantage of those hitters.

[Dazepster]

Will he ever hit Major league pitching? How long do we give guys like him and Gorman?

He gets next year, his final option year...to work his way from the minors, back to MLB.

A good idea.

Have to break him down and build him back up.

Hopefully Bloom has a solid infrastructure in place to scale that fairly quickly.