Yankees' Aaron Judge Gave Cardinals Top Prospect Jordan Walker Rare Advice

'Focus on having a good swing, making good contact, and let your body and your mechanics do the rest'

Scott Neville | Mar 28, 2023

Yankees' Aaron Judge Gave Cardinals Top Prospect Jordan Walker Rare Advice /

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St. Louis Cardinals

St. Louis Cardinals top prospect Jordan Walker received advice that only a handful of people could provide as Opening Day lingers.

The 20-year-old received some mentorship from New York Yankees superstar Aaron Judge on how to play with a unique frame.

Judge stands at 6-foot-7, 282 pounds, and for that reason has a rare view of the game -- both literally and metaphorically. Walker has been weighed in as high as 6-foot-6, 250 pounds and will have a similar list of strengths and challenges.

Judge apparently would like to see his fellow giant succeed.

“Somebody with our size -- we don’t have to focus too much on exit velocity,” Judge told St. Louis Post-Dispatch's Derrick Goold on Wednesday. “You just touch the ball and things are going to happen. That’s where you can focus on other things than trying to hit the ball as hard as you can. Focus on having a good swing, making good contact, and let your body and your mechanics do the rest.”

Walker certainly has no issue producing power -- he recorded 53 extra-base hits with 19 home runs and a .898 OPS last season in 119 games for Double-A Springfield.

A lot of the bigger players tend to battle more wear and tear throughout their careers, often battling some form of nagging injuries. Judge struggled to stay healthy from 2018 through 2020 but has since been able to stay on the field. He gave some more intel on how to prepare Walker's massive frame to get through the 162-game season.

“For someone that size, it’s really about understanding your body and making sure you’re warming up the right way pregame, making sure you’re doing recovery stuff, stretching postgame,” Judge told Goold. “It may not be the cutest or the coolest thing to do -- where you’re doing these ab exercises or glute work or stuff in the training room. But it’s the little things like that. It’s the little muscles. If you stay pliable and you stay flexible then your body is going to reward you by helping you stay out there.”

It would be smart for Walker to absorb any information Judge has to offer, especially after the phenom skipped Triple-A entirely.

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Published Mar 28, 2023

SCOTT NEVILLE

Scott Neville covers the St. Louis Cardinals for FanNation's "Inside The Cardinals" on Sports Illustrated. Before starting "Inside The Cardinals", Neville attended Merrimack College, where he earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Communication and Media with a minor in Marketing. Neville spent all four years with Merrimack's radio station WMCK, where he grew as a radio/podcast host and producer. His propensity for being in front of a microphone eventually expanded to film, where he produced multiple short films alongside his then-roommate and current co-worker Stephen Mottram. On a journey that began as a way to receive easy credits via film classes, he received a call from "It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia" star Charlie Day. Day advised him to make a feature-length film, which he completed his senior year. While writing the film, Neville completed an internship for United Way as part of their NFL Partnership Program. Neville ran the blog for a team of interns and hosted an internet show called "United Way's NFL Partnership Series" where he interviewed NFL alumni. After college Neville wrote for SB Nation's "Over The Monster," a Red Sox sister site of the flagship brand. His work would eventually lead him to a job as a content producer with NESN, where he would cover all sports. After developing as a writer with the top regional network in the world, he was given the opportunity to join FanNation and the Sports Illustrated Media Group as the publisher of "Inside The Red Sox." After a few months as the top Major League Baseball site in the program, Neville sought expansion and pitched "Inside The Cardinals," one of the newest additions to FanNation and the Sports Illustrated Media Group. The successful launch and quick rise of "Inside The Cardinals" led to Neville joining the Baseball Essential ownership group, a national baseball site under SIMG. Follow him on Twitter: @ScottNeville46 Email: nevilles@merrimack.edu