On his first swing as a Cardinal, Jordan Walker rifles a single for first MLB hit

ST. LOUIS, Mo. (KMOV) - There has been no such thing as containing the excitement and anticipation in St. Louis for the arrival of top Cardinals prospect Jordan Walker.

Predictions and projections have been lofty for the team’s first-round pick from the 2020 MLB Draft, whose spring performance catapulted him onto the Cardinals’ opening-day roster still nearly two months shy of his 21st birthday.

While Walker said Wednesday that he’s been able to tune out the bulk of the hype surrounding his arrival by not fixating on the things being said about him by the public, it would be impossible for him not to have heard at least some of the praise being heaped in his general direction.

So how did the 20-year-old outfielder handle the pressure in his first-ever Major League plate appearance? By stroking a base hit up the middle the very first time he swung the bat.

After seeing a first-pitch fastball in the strike zone, Walker turned around a breaking ball on the next offering from Blue Jays starter Alek Manoah. As the ball rolled through the middle infield into center field, the youngest position player to make his Major League debut with the Cardinals since 1981 had earned a hit the first time he lifted the bat off his shoulder in the bigs.

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