The St. Louis Cardinals announced today their selections for Minor League Player and Pitcher of the Month for June, with former Palm Beach Cardinals (A) third baseman Jordan Walker and Memphis Redbirds (AAA) left-handed starter Matthew Liberatore taking the honors.
Walker, who earned a promotion to High-A Peoria earlier this week, hit for an eye-popping .407 average, with four home runs, 11 doubles, 13 RBI and 12 runs scored in 14 June games with Palm Beach. The 19-year-old missed 19 games from May 21-June 11 with a wrist injury, but produced a 1.236 OPS upon his return to earn Low-A Southeast Player of the Week honors.
“Jordan finished an outstanding month of June, earning ‘Player of the Week’ honors for the week of June 14, followed by a well-earned promotion to Peoria,” said Cardinals Director of Player Development Gary LaRocque.
The 6-5, 235-pound Walker was the Cardinals’ 1st round selection (21st overall) in last year’s MLB Draft out of Decatur HS (GA) and was recently named a Top 100 prospect by Baseball America. The Stone Mountain, Ga.-native has had a blistering start to his professional career, hitting .365 (38-for-104) with a .465 on-base percentage and 18 extra-base hits in across 127 plate appearances through the end of June.
Liberatore, the organization’s top pitching prospect, posted a 3.42 ERA in four starts for Memphis in June, striking out 24 batters across 23.2 innings, with a 1.01 WHIP. The 6-4, 195-pound southpaw, had a 3-1 mark and pitched a career-high 8.0 innings in a 6-3 win over Jacksonville on June 30.
Ranked as the 27th overall prospect by Major League Baseball, Liberatore was a 1st round selection (16th overall) out of Mountain Ridge HS (AZ) in the 2018 MLB Draft and was acquired from Tampa Bay via a four-player trade in January 2020. Earlier this month, the Peoria, Ariz.-native helped USA Baseball qualify for the 2021 Tokyo Summer Olympics, allowing just two runs across two starts (9.2 IP) with eight strikeouts. This week, Liberatore was named to his first MLB All-Star Futures Game roster, joining Cardinals prospect and Redbirds teammate Nolan Gorman for the event on Sunday, July 11, in Denver, Colorado.
“A very productive month for Matthew, helping USA Baseball qualify for the Olympics in early June, highlighted by his recent selection to the Futures Game,” stated LaRocque.
