Jordan Walker’s 2026 season was good enough to put him in the All-Star Game, win the Home Run Derby, and earn a spot as a Hank Aaron Award finalist. It was not, apparently, enough to get him into the conversation for another postseason honor.
The MLB Players Association unveiled its 2026 Players Choice Awards finalists, and Walker was left off the list despite the breakout year he put together for the Cardinals. St. Louis did get one nod: JJ Wetherholt landed among the finalists for Outstanding Rookie, alongside TJ Rumfield and Sal Stewart.
Walker’s missed opportunity comes in the Comeback Player of the Year race, where the National League finalists are Sandy Alcantara, Martin Perez, and Zack Wheeler. Those three are more established names, but the category this year is built around players bouncing back from mediocre seasons rather than injuries. On that front, Walker’s case was as strong as just about anyone’s.
That’s because the path to this season was rough. After a solid debut, Walker never quite carried that momentum forward.
He struggled badly over the next two years, was demoted in 2023 and 2024, and then spent time in Memphis last year while rehabbing multiple injuries. Entering the 2026 season, he had 27 career home runs, 112 RBIs, and a batting average in the low .200s.
Then came the turnaround. The big outfielder matched his career home run total from before the season and added a couple more, finished just 10 RBIs shy of doing the same there, cut down his strikeout rate, and lifted his batting average by more than 50 points. For a player who had started to look like a change-of-scenery bust, that’s a real career reset.
The Cardinals still have offseason decisions ahead as they look toward 2027, but Walker’s name is now firmly back in the mix as someone fans want to see in St. Louis for the long haul. The league’s players, though, didn’t put him on the Players Choice Awards list.
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