Jordan Alexander Walker of Stone Mountain, Georgia, has a busy and unusual schedule ahead of him this week.
The extended workweek wasn’t one that Walker, 24, had been planning for until one week ago. With the St. Louis Cardinals finishing up a seven-game homestand on Sunday against the Atlanta Braves, Walker had every reason to plan a mini-vacation, as the MLB regular season schedule included a four-day hiatus during the All-Star Game break. Now, in his fourth and most offensively productive season with St. Louis, Walker gets to experience how baseball’s other half, All-Star Game selections, get to live at the sport’s halfway point of the regular 162-game schedule.
Along with teammates designated hitter Ivan Herrera and relief pitcher Riley O'Brien, Walker will be jetting from St. Louis to Philadelphia after Sunday’s matinee game with the Braves. Thanks to a combination of player ballots and the MLB Commissioner’s Office, Walker is recognized as among the few who have earned a roster spot among the 30 National League players suiting up at Citizens Bank Park on Tuesday.
His 22 home runs, 74 RBIs (the MLB leader entering Sunday’s game), and a .294 average certainly remove any guesswork about Walker’s All-Star worthiness.
Walker accepted MLB’s invitation to be among the eight participants in the annual T-Mobile Home Run Derby on Monday. Now one of the pros slugging long balls in the Derby’s 42-year history, Walker’s time in Philadelphia keeps getting better. It was an event from childhood that captivated the Cardinals’ right fielder’s attention prior to each Midsummer Classic.
“I liked looking at them mash the ball and see how far it goes into the crowd as a kid,” Walker told reporters before Friday’s game at Busch Stadium. “And I was like, wow, that’s super sick. I thought it was just one of the coolest things ever, so being able to be part of it is a dream come true.”
Focusing on the Derby before wondering where National League All-Star Game manager Dave Roberts may insert him at some point during Tuesday’s game, Walker has enlisted Cardinals bullpen catcher Kleininger to throw to him on Monday. Winning the derby is baseball history that Walker would gladly accept. No St. Louis player has won any of the previous 42 derbies. Cardinals first baseman Albert Pujols was the runner-up to 2003 derby winner Anaheim Angels Garret Anderson at Chicago’s U.S. Cellular Field.
“Home run derbies are a lot harder than they look,” Walker joked. “I did a few in high school, and it didn’t turn out how I thought it was going to, so I definitely need to practice for it.”
Going up against established MLB All-Stars Bryce Harper (nine-time All-Star), Willson Contreras (four-time All-Star and 2016 World Series champion), and Tampa Bay Rays’ Junior Caminero (28 home runs and hitting .280) is a challenge Walker is ready to answer. Representing the Cardinals in the Derby and Tuesday’s All-Star Game are honors Walker may not have envisioned at the start of this season.
After breaking into the big leagues in 2023 with a power surge of 16 home runs and a .787 OPS, the following two seasons were challenging at the batter’s box. His averages dipped to .201 in 2024 and .215 in 2025. His slugging went from .445 in 2023 to .366 and .306 over the next two seasons. Being hailed as a prized prospect, the shine wore off rapidly from the fall of 2023 to this past March’s Opening Day.
With the results Walker is continuing to pile up in 2026, missing out on a few vacation days this week is acceptable, considering the slump he’s climbed out of.
After Tuesday’s All-Star Game, there will be Wednesday and Thursday for Walker to catch up on a Zen moment or two. On Friday, it’s back to business for Walker and the Cardinals as they open the second half of the MLB season in Arizona with a three-game series against the Diamondbacks, followed by three games in Anaheim with the Angels.
As he builds on his MVP-like credentials for the 2026 season, Walker is getting better acquainted with the confines of Citizens Bank Park this week ahead of St. Louis’s late-August arrival for a three-game series with the Phillies.
With his on-field struggles seemingly behind him and a collective Cardinals effort putting the club just one game out of first place in the National League Central at the start of Sunday’s schedule, Walker has earned a relaxing yet exciting, all-expenses-paid, two-day detour to Philadelphia this week.
