MEMPHIS – Prized prospect Jordan Walker is speaking for the first time since being demoted to Memphis.
Walker was sent down from St. Louis after early season struggles and is now starting to find his groove in Memphis.
Walker is hitting 281 with the Redbirds. That is more than 125 points higher than he was with the Cardinals. While still looking for his first home run of the season, Walker does have a couple of doubles and three RBI in eight games with the ‘Birds.
When asked on Thursday why he struggled with the big club, Walker had a simple answer. He was trying “too hard.”
“Everybody presses at the big league level at some point. Pressing, you want to hit, you want to perform. Sometimes you get out of yourself a little bit and I think that’s just what happened a little bit, for sure,” Walker said. “Reps is always good and if that was the way to get it, Memphis, I’m all for it, man. I just want to get opportunities to hit and get out of it like I know I will.”
Walker is also getting support from another Cardinal rehabbing with the Redbirds in veteran big leaguer Matt Carpenter.
“He’s a great kid, and wants to be a great player. Obviously, he’s put a lot of work in. He’s had success his whole career. This is the first time to really struggle. So, everybody goes through it,” Carpenter said. “He’s learning from it and he’s making the adjustments to hopefully get back up there and have success.”