St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Jordan Walker extended his hitting streak to 11 games on Tuesday-evening 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 since 1900 by a player 20 or younger.
Walker’s single came against right reliever Jake Bird. According to Statcast, the ball left the bat at an exit speed of 82.5 mph and a launch angle of 11 degrees. Consider that the universe’s way of apologizing after Walker grounded out at 97 mph earlier in the game.
If Walker can knock one more time on Wednesday, when the Cardinals wrap up their series against the Rockies, he would tie Murphy for the record with 12. Here’s a look at the top three, courtesy of Sarah Langs of MLB.com:
- Eddie Murphy, Philadelphia Athletics 1912: 12 games
- Jordan Walker, St. Louis Cardinals 2023: 11 games and more
- Ted Williams, Boston Red Sox 1939: 9 games
Williams, of course, was at the beginning of a career that would eventually make him an inner circle Hall of Famer. While 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 start a career is 17. That figure was set by both Chuck Aleno (1941 Reds) and, more recently, David Dahl (2016 Rockies).
Walker, who will celebrate his 21st birthday in May, started Tuesday by batting .342/.390/.553 (156 OPS+) with two home runs and eight runs batted in. He was ranked the sixth best prospect in sports by CBS Sports earlier this spring. The Cardinals later decided to put him on their Opening Day roster.