Why the Cardinals needed more than patience with Jordan Walker, who is finally blossoming in Year 4

Walker's vision is fine. But Brown's vision required going deeper. When you feel comfortable, you usually see the ball better.

Walker, at 6-foot-6 and 250 pounds, made a subtle adjustment, standing more upright.

Then, came the hand movement during Walker's load. Walker, as explained by Brown, "is a big dude." As such, his long limbs would crowd his space when he loaded back horizontally.

"His back, elbow and barrel would go back behind his torso, get trapped. Then the barrel would kind of dump to provide some space he misses under to where this just kind of delays that natural action of where his arms want to go."

Therefore, instead of taking his hands straight back, Walker added a slight vertical dip to his load, allowing them to work more naturally into the hitting slot.

Here he is in 2025, with more bend in the knees.

Now, in 2026, he's more upright, with that slight dip in the load, allowing his hands to work freely.

"You can never really give up on talent," Brown said, "especially as talented as he is."

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In some ways, Walker's rise echoes the Cardinals' own trajectory, a blend of what's been and what they're still chasing.

Being a Cardinal comes with expectations. It always has.

Once one of the sport's most storied franchises, they've lost their way a bit in recent years. Much like Walker early in his career.  The Cardinals have missed the playoffs in three straight seasons, and their rebuild remains a work in progress.

"We can't take shortcuts," said Bloom. "It's something that we have to think of as a long-term project. And I just wanted to be very clear and direct, especially with our fans, that we are going to take no shortcuts, and we are going to put that long-term goal above everything. But I think at the same time, it's really important -- it goes along with what we're talking about at the player level in Jordan -- that we attack that work."

Bloom has seen this before. Players arriving with talent, but needing time to find it at this level.

When Bloom was with the Red Sox, Jarren Duran was one of them, struggling badly in his first run in the big leagues. Bloom stuck with him, even as some inside the organization pushed back, believing it would pay off.

In 2024, a year after Bloom was fired, Duran became an All-Star and one of the best outfielders in the majors.

Walker is a different beast. A hulking 23-year-old with tantalizing talent that, at its best, eclipses anything Duran has shown. A player who, if it all comes together, could put his name alongside some of the Cardinals' all-time greats.

That's a long way off, though. The league will adjust to what he's done so far this year. And he'll have to answer. That's life in the big leagues.

The urgency is built into the daily work. The process demands it.

"The key to urgency is not just that those gifts are there, but that he's going about it the right way," Bloom said.