Projection could send St. Louis Cardinals fans over edge with excitement

St. Louis Cardinals fans, are you ready for the Jordan Walker era to begin in the Gateway City? One site is projecting that it will happen for Opening Day.

Jordan Walker projected to be Opening Day designated hitter for the St. Louis Cardinals

In its latest Opening Day lineup projection, FanGraphs is projecting Walker batting seventh and serving as the designated hitter for the Cardinals when the open their season at home against the Toronto Blue Jays on March 30. The site has been showing Juan Yepez as part of the Opening Day lineup until this recent Walker insertion, and now shows Yepez as a part of the bench core along with Nolan Gorman, Paul DeJong, and Andrew Knizner.

Walker has been impressing in spring training, with even superstars like Aaron Judge sharing advice on how the 20-year-old slugger can stay healthy and perform at the highest level in 2023 and beyond. Heading into Friday’s games, Walker is slashing .390/.390/.683 with three homers and seven RBI in his first 41 at-bats of the spring.

Even with the projection, there is still some work to do for Walker to actually make the Opening Day roster. The top prospect for the Cardinals is not on the 40-man roster, meaning a space would have to be cleared in order for him to be a part of Opening Day. As was mentioned by our friends at Redbird Rants, a spot did just open up on the roster with the Detroit Tigers selecting right-hander Freddy Pacheco off waivers, meaning there could be an easy path for Walker to join the team in time for the Opening Day festivities at Busch Stadium.

In theory, Walker could conceivably start the season at designated hitter, then work his way into the outfield rotation. That would give Cardinals fans a chance to see the future of the franchise now, something that is already making St. Louis supporters even more excited for Opening Day.