Cardinal’s Brant Brown: Jordan Walker Needs to Step Up His Focus for Consistency
In a recent interview, Brant Brown, hitting coach for the St. Louis Cardinals, shared his thoughts on rookie outfielder Jordan Walker’s performance. According to Brown, Walker has the potential to be a valuable asset to the team, but he needs to work on his focus in order to achieve consistency on the field.
Brown emphasized the importance of focus in a player’s performance, stating that it is a key factor in building consistency. He believes that Walker has the talent and skills, but he needs to hone in on his concentration in order to fully utilize them.
As a rookie, Walker has shown flashes of brilliance, but has also struggled with maintaining a steady level of play. Brown believes that with a stronger focus, Walker can become a reliable and consistent player for the Cardinals.
The hitting coach also mentioned that he has been working closely with Walker to help him improve his focus and mental game. He believes that with the right guidance and determination, Walker can reach his full potential and make a significant impact on the team.
In conclusion, Brant Brown has high hopes for Jordan Walker and believes that with a stronger focus, he can become a valuable asset to the St. Louis Cardinals. It will be interesting to see how Walker responds to this advice and if he can step up his game in the upcoming season.
Cardinals’ Hitting Coach Calls Out Jordan Walker’s Lack of Preparation
The St. Louis Cardinals made a big move in the 2021 MLB June Amateur Draft by selecting high school outfielder Jordan Walker in the first round. However, since then, Walker’s name has faded from the spotlight.
After a couple of years in the minor leagues, Walker was named the Cardinals’ top prospect heading into the 2023 season. He had a strong showing in Spring Training and earned a spot on the opening day roster. In his rookie year, Walker played in 117 games and had an impressive .276 batting average with 16 home runs and 51 RBI.
But since then, Walker has struggled significantly. In the last two years, he has only hit .201 and .220, with just five home runs each season. On Tuesday, Cardinals’ manager Oli Marmol and hitting coach Brant Brown spoke about Walker’s struggles on KMOX, FM 104.1.
Brown pointed to Walker’s lack of preparation as a major factor in his downfall. “At some point in time he’s going to have to devote kind of a more focus on preparation,” Brown said. “We’ve had long conversations with this. It’s not only looking at film on the starter, but also being able to come in and the first day of a series, like just take a look at all the bullpen guys, like all the information and videos available, just so we’re not, you know, getting snuck up on when a (reliever) comes in.”
Brown also noted that it’s not just Walker, but the entire team that has a tendency to “sell out” for certain pitches. The Cardinals currently rank 14th worst in the MLB in batting average and eighth-worst in OPS. However, Walker’s struggles stand out even more among qualified hitters on the team.
Brown believes that the root of Walker’s struggles is his lack of effort in improving. “And I think the one thing with [Walker) is we’ve kind of played a massive game of tennis going back and forth with what he feels like he needs to do versus what he really needs to do,” Brown said. “And until, you know, we can get a full commitment out of him to just say, ‘all right, this is where I’m at. You know, if I’m looking at the numbers, like it’s not the best.'”
As a first round pick, Walker’s struggles have been magnified. But Brown believes that with more dedication and preparation, he can turn things around and live up to his potential.
