The St. Louis Cardinals recalled top prospect Jordan Walker and placed fellow outfielder Lars Nootbaar on the 10-day injured list Friday.
Walker, 21, opened the season in right field for the Cardinals and hit safely in his first 12 games but was sent to Triple-A Memphis on April 26. At the time of his demotion, he had three doubles, two home runs and 11 RBIs.
On the strength of a solid spring training, Walker went straight from Double-A Springfield to the Cardinals this season, but St. Louis moved him to Memphis to try to improve his launch angle as he posted a 58.5 percent ground-ball rate in the majors, per MLB.com.
“I feel like as I go through the season, it’s going to get more in the air just like I did last year,” Walker told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch recently. “So I just have to trust myself and trust how my swing has been in the past three years within the organization. That’s just what I have faith in.”
The No. 21 overall draft pick by the Cardinals in 2020, Walker hit .239 with four home runs and 16 RBIs in 29 games. Last season at Springfield, Walker batted .306 with 19 homers, 68 runs driven in and 22 stolen bases.
Nootbaar, whose IL designation is retroactive to Tuesday, has a lower back contusion. He sustained the injury when he crashed into the wall after making a catch in Monday’s 7-0 loss to the Kansas City Royals.
Nootbaar, 25, is batting .266 with four homers and 21 RBIs in 42 games this season.
–Field Level Media
