JuanAgosto wrote: ↑15 Sep 2025 19:32 pm
How was he the #1 rated prospect?
Because in 2022, at the young age of 20--which made him WAY above the curve--he was one of the best hitters all year in AA and Fall League. And then during the first couple weeks of Spring Training in 23, when most teams are just feeding their youngest pitchers to the wolves to see what they've got, Jordan excelled because it was pitching he'd seen before.
That led Mozeliak, who has earned the reputation as one of the worst talent assessors in MLB, to foolishly promote him to MLB despite the fact they apparently knew Jordan's ground ball propensity would lead to far too many ground balls and apparently, would need modification, which they somehow thought a 20-year-old who had yet to fail at any level would be able to do WHILE learning a new defensive position at the MLB level.
Compound this with the unpopular firing of Mike Schildt, Mo's newest blunder, Oli, had just singlehandedly put the kibosh on the Cards postseason 6 months ago when he thought pulling an unhittable pitcher should be pulled after 5.1 IP and 75 pitches. Additionally, that same genius manager thought getting 2 innings out of a closer who had just jammed a throwing finger 3 days ago was also a good idea. That all blew up in Oli's face, which thus blew up in Mo's face, and combining that with the fact that Alcantra, Gallen, and Arozarena were now All-Stars, Cy Young winners, or postseason legends, Mo's precious ego couldn't handle the blowback he was facing.
Thus, he promoted this 20-year old kid to MLB to try and distract the fans with "the next big thing" to restore his tarnished reputation. As we've seen, it's been all downhill since Game 1 against the Phillies in 2022.
So, the majority of blame likely lies with the Cardinals, but Jordan's not helping himself at all either.
Excellent synopsis, Black!
Agree with most of that.
The bungling/mishandling of Walker has been ASTONISHING!
Talkin' Baseball wrote: ↑15 Sep 2025 13:22 pm
Orioles fans might want a word with you about Coby Mayo. Like Walker he is a big guy (6'4" 230 lb), top 10 MLB prospect supposed to be a slugger. He has hit .193 so far this year with a .622 OPS. Mayo has struck out 75 times in 249 plate appearances so far. Last season in 17 games he hit (if you can call it that) .098 with a .293 OPS. He's giving Walker a run for his money as the worst player in MLB. He is a righty bat and plays 1B/3B. Curiosity question- would you trade Walker for Mayo?
Yes, I think I would.
Give Mayo a shot to be our future 3B.
Winn @ SS
JJW @ 2B
Contreras @ 1B
I could roll with that. Go sign Kyle Tucker for RF
Donovan LF
JJW 2B
Tucker RF
Contreras 1B
Herrera DH
Mayo 3B
Winn SS
Crooks C
Scott II/Church CF
JuanAgosto wrote: ↑15 Sep 2025 19:32 pm
How was he the #1 rated prospect?
Since Moe has such a wonderful family, they were given the opportunity to rate the MLB prospects and, wouldn’t you know it, they all agreed that Mr. Walker was the #1 rated prospect. If you really think about it, why not?
JuanAgosto wrote: ↑15 Sep 2025 19:32 pm
How was he the #1 rated prospect?
Since Moe has such a wonderful family, they were given the opportunity to rate the MLB prospects and, wouldn’t you know it, they all agreed that Mr. Walker was the #1 rated prospect. If you really think about it, why not?
Hahahaha. "Mo has a wonderful family" may have been the funniest post in the history of CT. Hilarious that anyone would mention that as an argument.
JuanAgosto wrote: ↑15 Sep 2025 19:32 pm
How was he the #1 rated prospect?
Because in 2022, at the young age of 20--which made him WAY above the curve--he was one of the best hitters all year in AA and Fall League. And then during the first couple weeks of Spring Training in 23, when most teams are just feeding their youngest pitchers to the wolves to see what they've got, Jordan excelled because it was pitching he'd seen before.
That led Mozeliak, who has earned the reputation as one of the worst talent assessors in MLB, to foolishly promote him to MLB despite the fact they apparently knew Jordan's ground ball propensity would lead to far too many ground balls and apparently, would need modification, which they somehow thought a 20-year-old who had yet to fail at any level would be able to do WHILE learning a new defensive position at the MLB level.
Compound this with the unpopular firing of Mike Schildt, Mo's newest blunder, Oli, had just singlehandedly put the kibosh on the Cards postseason 6 months ago when he thought pulling an unhittable pitcher should be pulled after 5.1 IP and 75 pitches. Additionally, that same genius manager thought getting 2 innings out of a closer who had just jammed a throwing finger 3 days ago was also a good idea. That all blew up in Oli's face, which thus blew up in Mo's face, and combining that with the fact that Alcantra, Gallen, and Arozarena were now All-Stars, Cy Young winners, or postseason legends, Mo's precious ego couldn't handle the blowback he was facing.
Thus, he promoted this 20-year old kid to MLB to try and distract the fans with "the next big thing" to restore his tarnished reputation. As we've seen, it's been all downhill since Game 1 against the Phillies in 2022.
So, the majority of blame likely lies with the Cardinals, but Jordan's not helping himself at all either.
Agree with most of what you laid out . His terrible defense . One thing that rarely gets mentioned though , his rookie year offensive numbers were quite good .. In fact, though the 'ground balls' , Walker had a higher batting avg.(,276) in his rookie season than both Goldschmidt and Arenado . He also hit 16 home runs in 2023 (so those balls sure were not grounders ). Many seem to forget just how good his rookie year was offensively for a 20 year old. It then declined from there. For some reason , some think his rookie year was a bust ... far from it .
blackinkbiz wrote: ↑15 Sep 2025 12:36 pm
He's a bit shy in at-bats to qualify as a full-time player. But if he did, his .576 OPS would make him dead last against those players who do.
In my 20 years of being an avid baseball fan, I can't remember seeing a worse hitter. Probably because no one this bad ever gets so much playing time.
I'd like to say I feel for the kid because a lot of this is definitely on Mo and Co for skipping AAA, rushing him, and within a month of his MLB debut, saying he needs to change his swing on the fly, BUT ...
He can't recognize a pitch and can't hit a fastball to save his (Ef'En) life! For someone with supposedly elite bat speed, I can't remember the last time I saw him smoke a fastball for a hit. His last at-bat last night was laughable, swinging so awkwardly at a ball that almost hit him that he nearly fell down.
Thank God Moleziak's reign of terror is almost at an end. Can anyone point to a worse player, present or past, who got as much playing time? Or has there been a bigger bust as a Cardinal?
I know he's only 23 and there's still time but wow does it look ugly right now...
Well Gorman would give him a run. Another complete loser. And many more just on this roster. Amazing how bad they are.
JuanAgosto wrote: ↑15 Sep 2025 19:32 pm
How was he the #1 rated prospect?
Since Moe has such a wonderful family, they were given the opportunity to rate the MLB prospects and, wouldn’t you know it, they all agreed that Mr. Walker was the #1 rated prospect. If you really think about it, why not?
Hahahaha. "Mo has a wonderful family" may have been the funniest post in the history of CT. Hilarious that anyone would mention that as an argument.
It may be but we've seen 100s of post arguing against ANYONE who has a negative comment about Mo-ran....and 99% by the same person...that dedication is mind numbing.
Hindsight is 20/20, but they probably should have put Walker at 1st base when he first came up and left him there. He could have focused on his hitting instead of learning the outfield.
Randy Flores. Making Johnny Moe look like a $million since 2014. How can he miss on so many players? How can Moe keep saying “thank you, sir. May I have another?” to a guy who has issues with drafting an OF?
Rojo Johnson wrote: ↑16 Sep 2025 08:49 am
Randy Flores. Making Johnny Moe look like a $million since 2014. How can he miss on so many players? How can Moe keep saying “thank you, sir. May I have another?” to a guy who has issues with drafting an OF?
Mo stripped the development system. Destroyed it. Who knows what Flores drafts would have done if there was actually a good development system in place
JuanAgosto wrote: ↑15 Sep 2025 19:32 pm
How was he the #1 rated prospect?
Since Moe has such a wonderful family, they were given the opportunity to rate the MLB prospects and, wouldn’t you know it, they all agreed that Mr. Walker was the #1 rated prospect. If you really think about it, why not?
Hahahaha. "Mo has a wonderful family" may have been the funniest post in the history of CT. Hilarious that anyone would mention that as an argument.
It may be but we've seen 100s of post arguing against ANYONE who has a negative comment about Mo-ran....and 99% by the same person...that dedication is mind numbing.
Moe once helped a little ol’ blind lady across the street (and then stole her lunch money). There are some here who are looking to make sure he receives credit for his good deed. Just look at the Cards roster in Moe’s last year working for the org. How would you like THAT to be your legacy? I would have quit right after ST so I could start blaming the mess on Bloom ASAP.
Talkin' Baseball wrote: ↑15 Sep 2025 13:22 pm
Orioles fans might want a word with you about Coby Mayo. Like Walker he is a big guy (6'4" 230 lb), top 10 MLB prospect supposed to be a slugger. He has hit .193 so far this year with a .622 OPS. Mayo has struck out 75 times in 249 plate appearances so far. Last season in 17 games he hit (if you can call it that) .098 with a .293 OPS. He's giving Walker a run for his money as the worst player in MLB. He is a righty bat and plays 1B/3B. Curiosity question- would you trade Walker for Mayo?
blackinkbiz wrote: ↑15 Sep 2025 12:36 pm
He's a bit shy in at-bats to qualify as a full-time player. But if he did, his .576 OPS would make him dead last against those players who do.
In my 20 years of being an avid baseball fan, I can't remember seeing a worse hitter. Probably because no one this bad ever gets so much playing time.
I'd like to say I feel for the kid because a lot of this is definitely on Mo and Co for skipping AAA, rushing him, and within a month of his MLB debut, saying he needs to change his swing on the fly, BUT ...
He can't recognize a pitch and can't hit a fastball to save his (Ef'En) life! For someone with supposedly elite bat speed, I can't remember the last time I saw him smoke a fastball for a hit. His last at-bat last night was laughable, swinging so awkwardly at a ball that almost hit him that he nearly fell down.
Thank God Moleziak's reign of terror is almost at an end. Can anyone point to a worse player, present or past, who got as much playing time? Or has there been a bigger bust as a Cardinal?
I know he's only 23 and there's still time but wow does it look ugly right now...
and ... we've been seeing this for 3 years now!
To be fair, his rookie campaign looked nothing like the abomination we've suffered through the last 2 years. He was terrible in RF, but his rookie year is probably one of the top-20 of all-time hitting seasons for a 20-year-old rookie. I honestly can't remember if he was either hitting the notorious outside breaking pitch that's become his downfall or if he simply hadn't been exposed yet, but he seemed to have so much promise, which is why the Cards deserve a LOT of the blame for this tragedy.
Agreed! Jordan Walker looked like a no-miss prospect during his first stint. I visited STL that year and bought my son a Walker T-Shirt. The shirt (size is too small) and the player (slash is too small) seem to have run their course.
I'm still rooting for Walker, but I think he's got to go back to AAA for quite some time to prove he's capable. Otherwise, trade him/cut him.
