St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Jordan Walker extended his hitting streak to 11 games on Tuesday night with a seventh-inning single against the Colorado Rockies. Walker is just one game away from tying Eddie Murphy (1912) for the longest hitting streak to begin a career by a player aged 20 or younger since 1900.
Walker's single came against righty reliever Jake Bird. According to Statcast, the ball left the bat with an 82.5 mph exit velocity and an 11-degree launch angle. Consider that to be the universe's way of apologizing after Walker had a 97 mph grounder go for an out earlier in the game.
If Walker can record another knock on Wednesday, when the Cardinals wrap up their series against the Rockies, then he would tie Murphy for the record with 12. Here's a look at the top three, courtesy of MLB.com's Sarah Langs:
Eddie Murphy, 1912 Philadelphia Athletics: 12 gamesJordan Walker, 2023 St. Louis Cardinals: 11 games and countingTed Williams, 1939 Boston Red Sox: 9 gamesWilliams, of course, was at the onset of a career that would eventually make him an inner-circle Hall of Famer. Though not nearly as successful, Murphy appeared in parts of 11 big-league seasons and won a pair of World Series titles. One came with the 1913 Athletics, the other with the 1917 Chicago White Sox.
It's worth noting that without the age requirement, the longest hitting streak to begin a career is 17. That mark was set by both Chuck Aleno (1941 Reds) and, more recently, David Dahl (2016 Rockies).
Walker, who will celebrate his 21st birthday in May, entered Tuesday batting .342/.390/.553 (156 OPS+) with two home runs and eight runs batted in. He was ranked by CBS Sports as the sixth best prospect in the sport earlier this spring. The Cardinals later decided to carry him on their Opening Day roster.
