BREAKING: St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Shut Down After Devastating injury On Sprinkler Head During Spring Training
St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Jordan Walker will be sidelined for about a week after sustaining a minor knee injury, manager Oli Marmol told reporters Wednesday in Florida. The 22-year-old avoided a serious setback, as scans showed no structural damage. “There’s some inflammation above the knee, so we’ll give it a week to settle before ramping him back up,” Marmol said, per John Denton of MLB.com.
Walker injured his left knee in Tuesday’s game against the Washington Nationals while tracking a fly ball in right field, stepping on a sprinkler head and jamming it. According to Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, he informed the team of his discomfort upon returning to the dugout, leading to a pinch-hitter replacing him in the third inning.
Looking to secure a spot in the Cardinals’ 2025 outfield, Walker played in only 51 major league games last season, hitting .201, after a strong rookie campaign in 2023 with a 113 OPS+ over 117 games. So far in Grapefruit League action, he’s 2-for-14 with eight strikeouts.
Marmol confirmed Walker underwent imaging to rule out any major issues. “It is what it is,” he said, via Denton. “We’ll give it a week, then get him going again. There’s still plenty of time to see him in spring games.”