Last season, Michael Harris II and Julio Rodriguez earned Rookie of the Year honors in the National League and American League, respectively.
The 2023 season has yet to begin, but insiders and analysts are already making their predictions for who will take home the awards this season.
In the National League, there are plenty of young stars who are ready to make their presence felt.
However, no rookie appears to be drawing as much attention as Jordan Walker, the top prospect within the St. Louis Cardinals organization.
MLB Network analyst and former New York Mets General Manager Steve Phillips predicted that Walker will win the award in the National League.
"This kid is LEGIT."@StevePhillipsGM's pick for NL Rookie of the Year is off to quite the #SpringTraining start for the @Cardinals 👀@jwalker0522 | #MLBNHotStove pic.twitter.com/wKB0eQWvcX
— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) February 27, 2023
Cardinals fans are certainly hoping he’s right.
Based on his performance Sunday, Cardinals fans are probably feeling pretty good about where things stand with Walker.
He hit a first-inning home run off of Johnny Cueto and legged out an infield single, going 2-for-4 in his first spring training start.
Phillips is clearly very high on Walker and believes that he could be the next superstar to emerge from the Cardinals pipeline.
Walker is of course competing for a spot on the Opening Day roster and could end up serving as the team’s fourth outfielder or even taking some at-bats as the team’s designated hitter.
With Juan Yepez and Nolan Gorman in the fold, it won’t be easy, but it’s a good problem for the Cardinals to have.
The last Cardinal to win the Rookie of the Year Award was Albert Pujols back in 2001.
NEXT: Adam Wainwright Added A Nice Touch To His Glove
