{"id":126218,"date":"2026-07-20T08:00:26","date_gmt":"2026-07-20T12:00:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=126218"},"modified":"2026-07-19T21:37:58","modified_gmt":"2026-07-20T01:37:58","slug":"cardinals-standouts-shine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2026\/07\/20\/cardinals-standouts-shine\/","title":{"rendered":"Cardinals’ Standouts of the Week: Walker, Wetherholt, and Jordan"},"content":{"rendered":"

It is time again to identify the St. Louis Cardinals’ standouts of the week. Even with the All-Star Break, the Cardinals had a busy week. They sent four representatives to the All-Star Game, where Jordan Walker became the first Cardinal to win the Home Run Derby<\/a>. The team then headed west to play the Arizona Diamondbacks, where they lost two of three, including blowing a 7-0 lead on Sunday.<\/p>\n

<\/smartframe-embed><\/p>\n

Needless to say, it was a week of the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. Among all that, who are the Cardinals’ standouts?<\/p>\n

Cardinals’ Standouts of the Week<\/h2>\n

Standout #3: Blaze Jordan<\/a><\/h3>\n

After his successful Major League debut in Minnesota (earning a spot on our Cardinals’ standouts list<\/a>), Blaze Jordan had come back down to Earth. In the 21 games since the end of that series and the finale of the Arizona series, Jordan only had two games where he recorded more than one hit. Furthermore, he had only two games in which he drove in more than one run. The bright side was his strong strikeout rate (14.5%)<\/a>, meaning if he continued to put the ball in play, the results would come.<\/p>\n

The results came on Sunday. Playing in his only game in the series, Jordan went 3-5 at the plate and drove in three runs. Had the Cardinals been able to hang on for the win, this would have been an even bigger standout moment for the young third basemen. Instead, we will have to settle for the moral victory, but an important one.<\/p>\n

The Cardinals play the Los Angeles Angels this week. The Angels are only scheduled to start one left-handed starter, that being on Wednesday. While manager Oliver Marmol<\/a> has primarily been using Jordan against lefties, he should consider starting him Monday against the right-handed Jose Soriano<\/a>. After his performance on Sunday, Jordan should get the opportunity to see if he can build off of it. He is batting .250 against righties, so the splits are not drastic (.276 against lefties).<\/p>\n

Standout #2: JJ Wetherholt<\/a><\/h3>\n

Next on our Cardinals’ standouts list is someone who should have been an All-Star<\/a>. JJ Wetherholt did not seem bothered, however. He does have some extra spending money<\/a>, after all.<\/p>\n

Wetherholt started his second half with a bang on Friday. The Baltimore native went 2-4 at the plate, including his 14th home run. On Saturday, he went 2-for-5 at the plate. On Sunday, Wetherholt only recorded one hit in six at-bats, but did drive in a run.<\/p>\n

\"After
Jul 18, 2026; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; St. Louis Cardinals second baseman JJ Wetherholt (26) scores a run against the Arizona Diamondbacks in the sixth inning at Chase Field. Mandatory Credit: Rick Scuteri-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

There is not much to say about Wetherholt that we have not said already. He is on pace to win Rookie of the Year. His defense at second base has been superb. He continues to prove he belongs in the big leagues. He is definitely on the Cardinals’ standouts of the season as a whole. The contract the Cardinals gave him may be a steal before long.<\/p>\n

Standout #1: Jordan Walker<\/a><\/h3>\n

“I was once told you don’t boo nobodies.”<\/p>\n

Was there any doubt who would top this Cardinals’ standouts list? Walker was the enemy in Philadelphia at the Home Run Derby. Kyle Schwarber<\/a> put on a show in front of his home crowd, hitting 11 home runs in the final round. As Walker came to the plate, the Phillies’ faithful greeted him in a shower of boos. Every time he failed to hit a home run, they erupted in cheers. Each home run was met with more boos. Eventually, Walker was down to his last swing, needing three to tie Schwarber. He did just that plus one, becoming the first Cardinal to win the Home Run Derby- no Cardinals’ standouts list has ever included that until now. By winning, Walker also earned $1 million, more than his yearly salary.<\/p>\n

\n

You don\u2019t boo nobodies – Jordan Walker pic.twitter.com\/Aq5UIsZx4E<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Gateway Grinders (@gatewaygrinders) July 14, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Monday night seems the perfect metaphor for Walker’s 2026 season. The underdog who everyone had written off. He went into the season practically labeled a bust<\/a>. He went into his final round with everyone practically crowning Schwarber the winner. However, as Randy Marsh once famously said, “I didn’t hear no bell.”<\/p>\n

Like he has done all season, Walker has defied the odds. He is now someone who will get votes for the National League MVP<\/a> if he continues at this pace. Furthermore, he may soon be given a contract extension of his own.<\/p>\n

Walker started his second half by recording three hits and three RBI against the Diamondbacks. What more will the 24-year-old give Cardinal Nation?<\/p>\n

The Week Ahead<\/h3>\n

The Cardinals conclude their road trip with three games against the Angels. They will return home for a make-up game with the Diamondbacks on Thursday before hosting the Cincinnati Reds for three games.<\/p>\n

What will the next list of Cardinals’ standouts look like? Enjoy the games this week and tune in next Sunday to find out.<\/p>\n

Main Photo: Eric Hartline- Imagn Images<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It is time again to identify the St. Louis Cardinals’ standouts of the week. Even with the All-Star Break, the Cardinals had a busy week. They sent four representatives to the All-Star Game, where Jordan Walker became the first Cardinal to win the Home Run Derby. The team then headed west to play the Arizona […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3464,"featured_media":126223,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1071,35,25],"tags":[3624,6536,6383],"class_list":["post-126218","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb","category-news","category-cardinals","tag-blaze-jordan","tag-jj-wetherholt","tag-jordan-walker"],"modified_by":"Andrew Willis","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126218","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3464"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=126218"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126218\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":126224,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126218\/revisions\/126224"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/126223"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=126218"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=126218"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=126218"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}