Jordan Walker joins three legendary Cardinals in HR history to begin season

Jordan Walker joins three legendary Cardinals in HR history to begin season originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

The St. Louis Cardinals are 8-7 to begin the 2026 MLB season, only one game behind the Pittsburgh Pirates for the top spot in the National League Central.

There are a few reasons for the early-season success, but the breakout of Jordan Walker is one of the biggest reasons for the Cardinals' record. He's hitting .327 with seven homers and 14 RBIs through 15 games.

This start to the season for Walker, as MLB.com's Brenden Schaeffer writes, made some impressive Cardinals history. He's joining three other Cardinals legends in franchise history with his seven-homer start to the season.

Jordan Walker joins 3 Cardinals legends with 7 HR start

"Walker became the fourth Cardinals player in franchise history to hit at least seven homers in the team's first 15 games, joining Mark McGwire (1998), Scott Rolen (2004), and Albert Pujols (2006)," Schaeffer writes.

This is an incredible feat on its own, and with the historical Cardinals comparisons, it's even more impressive.

The 23-year-old is finally breaking out after a few years in the Majors, where he struggled to find his groove. If he can continue to stay hot, he could be in store for a monster 2026.

Walker's OPS to start the season through 15 games is a very impressive 1.138. His seven homers and two doubles on 18 hits with 14 RBIS and 13 runs scored have been just what the Cardinals needed, and a whole lot more from Walker.

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While this statistic from Walker doesn't reveal anything about how good he's going to be in the long-term, it is a great sign that he's joining the likes of McGwire, Pujols, and Rolen with this feat of Cardinals history.

The Cardinals' young slugger is one of the hottest hitters, if not the hottest in all of Major League Baseball.

He's bound to slow down at some point, but for now, Walker is on a hot streak to begin the season, and one that's only been matched three times in Cardinals history.

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