ST. LOUIS (AP) — St. Louis outfielder Jordan Walker hit his MLB-leading eighth homer of the season Monday night, and his season-opening power display has placed him among some of the Cardinals’ greats.

With the homer in the 9-3 loss to the Cleveland Guardians, Walker became the fifth player in Cardinals history to hit at least eight homers in the first 16 games of a season, joining St. Louis standouts Stan Musial (1954), Mark McGwire (1998), Scott Rolen (2004) and Albert Pujols (2006).

“It means a lot, man,” Walker said. “I mean, those are the greats. So, you learn about those guys early on, as soon as you come into the Cardinals organization. So, you know, to be put with them is pretty special.”

Walker’s 398-foot solo shot to lead off the sixth inning was one of the few highlights in the loss to the Guardians that dropped St. Louis to 8-8.

The 23-year-old Walker and Albert Pujols (age 21 in 2001) are the only Cardinals to hit eight or more homers in March and April before turning 24.

Walker has homered in three straight games and in seven of his last nine games. He became the first Cardinals player to accomplish the feat since Paul Goldschmidt in 2022. The first round pick, 21st overall, in 2020 had just 11 total home runs in 527 at bats in the previous two seasons combined.

For his career, Walker had 16 homers in 117 games in 2023, five in 51 games in 2024 and six in 111 games last season.

“Just the work and the preparation is key, and he’s benefiting a ton from that right now, an absolute ton,” Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said. “You can just see the calmness when he’s taking his at bats. When you’re prepared for the test, man, it’s a lot easier to go up there and trust it.”

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