NEW YORK — As much as the Cardinals have shuttled prized prospect Jordan Walker back to Class AAA Memphis or between roles in the majors, their manager is convinced where all this moving around will ultimately take the young outfielder.
“I want to be super clear when I say this,†manager Oliver Marmol said Friday afternoon in the visiting clubhouse at Yankee Stadium. “I think Jordan Walker has the chance to be a real game-changing impact player for a very long time for this organization. In order to do that, he’s going to need the at-bats. But he’s also going to need some real adjustments throughout those at-bats for him to become that player.
“I do have confidence in his ability to do that.â€
And those at-bats have to start sometime.
Like now, the manager said.
In a series of roster moves that represent a U-turn from just a few weeks ago, the Cardinals designated veteran outfielder Tommy Pham for assignment and recalled Walker from Triple-A Memphis. The Cardinals acquired Pham at the trade deadline to be a right handed-hitting option for the outfield or off the bench, and just recently they demoted Walker back to the Triple-A Redbirds because the only playing time he received in the majors was in a platoon setup. Friday’s moves represent both a reversal — and a commitment.
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“He will play every day,†Marmol said of Walker, who started in right field as the Cardinals opened a weekend series against the Yankees. “It doesn’t matter — right, left (pitcher) — he’s going to have a run of games here.â€
The transaction that put that in motion also brought an abrupt end to another of the Cardinals’ recent trades. Within the past week, the Cardinals have ejected from their roster two players they acquired at the July 30 trade deadline. The Cardinals passed reliever Shawn Armstrong through waivers, where he was picked up Friday by the Chicago Cubs. Armstrong’s departure without any return for the Cardinals means they traded Dylan Carlson to Tampa Bay for a few weeks of the right-handed reliever.
Pham was part of a three-team trade that also brought Friday night starter Erick Fedde to the Cardinals. While orchestrating that deal with the Dodgers and White Sox, the Cardinals sought to include Pham — and that delayed the agreement until just before the deadline. The Cardinals sent Tommy Edman to the Dodgers in the deal while receiving Pham and Fedde from the White Sox. Pham, a former Cardinal, hit a pinch-hit grand slam upon his return.
His playing time became less clear in the weeks that followed.
Pham approached the Cardinals about giving him a chance to go elsewhere with more playing time ahead of the playoffs roster freeze on Saturday. On Thursday morning, after Pham’s urging, the Cardinals placed him on waivers, and on Friday removed him from the roster. He can be claimed by any other team — or seek his release to become a free agent.
Marmol said Pham expressed that such a move would be best “for his career.â€
In his office Friday, the Post-Dispatch asked if the roster switch from Pham to Walker, from a move for the present to playing time for the future, was a sign of a shift for the team in how it viewed the standings and its chances of contending for a playoff spot. Marmol shook his head: “No.â€
Earlier this month, Walker returned from Memphis to spot duty against left-handed starters, and he went 1 for 11. (That one hit was against a right-handed pitcher.) Optioned back to Class AAA for the second time this season, Walker went 8 for 23 in his return. At Memphis in August, Walker hit .312 with a .519 slugging percentage and an .888 OPS.
He has spent most of this season at the Cardinals’ highest affiliate working on a significant adjustment to his swing — one meant to produce more consistent power from the 22-year-old outfielder, lower his groundball rate, and open up stance to drive more pitches more often and deliver more liners into the gaps. No one involved expected it to be an overnight process.
“It’s a real offseason of work,†Marmol said. “Giving him this run is important too because we do need him to be the player we think he’s capable of being as we go into the end of this year and (beginning) next year.â€
More than just the standings have shifted for the Cardinals since Walker’s previous cameo in the majors this month. Since, Luken Baker has been promoted from Class AAA to offer a right-handed bat off the bench. Also, the Cardinals demoted slugger Nolan Gorman to Triple-A and moved Brendan Donovan to second base from left field. The opening in the outfield by that move can assure more playing time for Walker.
His return was positioned Friday as a necessary stride within the adjustments he’s making at the plate. At some point the adjustments are going to have to work against big-league pitching.
“This is where this run is going to be more telling than anything because it’s one thing to watch the video from Triple-A and it’s another thing to see how they’re pitching him here,†Marmol said. “And how he’s able to combat that.â€
Roster expanding roundup
Steven Matz threw a bullpen session Friday at Yankee Stadium ahead of his expected return to the active roster on Sunday. Matz has missed several months with a back strain and disc injury. The Cardinals have not yet committed to a role for the lefty, though they do plan to add him as their extra pitcher when rosters expand to 28 spots on Sept. 1. … Michael Siani was scheduled to play nine innings Friday night for Class AA Springfield and then repeat that Saturday as he also nears a return. Siani has missed several weeks with an oblique strain, and if he recovers well from back-to-back days he could be activated as soon as Sunday when rosters expand.