The top Duke baseball commit is planning to pursue the professional route after being drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals.
Duke will be losing one of its top commits as Jordan Walker is going to pursue a professional career after being selected by the St. Louis Cardinals in the first round of the 2020 MLB Draft.
Walker, a standout at Decatur High School (GA), is a third baseman and right-handed pitcher and was selected by the Cardinals with the No. 21 overall pick, three slots after Duke baseball ace Bryce Jarvis was drafted by the Arizona Diamondbacks.
The Stone Mountain, Georgia native was named as the 2020 Georgia Gatorade Baseball Player of the Year following his shortened senior season where he hit .457 with four home runs and 15 RBI.
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Jordan Walker was one of the highest-rated high school prospects entering the 2020 MLB Draft and was the seventh high school player selected in Wednesday’s first round.
The looming concerns about the Major League Baseball season paired with the uncertainty of Minor League Baseball could have created a scenario in which Walker would have opted to attend Duke, but in an interview following his selection, he made his future plans very clear.
Caught up with new #Cardinals first round pick, @DHSbaseballdogs alum Jordan Walker. Says he doubts he'll sleep tonight ... or the next few nights ... after being drafted. Unless something goes wrong, he plans to turn pro instead of playing at #Duke. pic.twitter.com/Mut42YD6NP
— Justin Felder (@Justin_FOX5) June 11, 2020
At the time of his selection, Walker was the youngest player ever drafted by a Major League Baseball team, but Nick Bitsko, a Central Bucks High School East (PA) product drafted by the Tampa Bay Rays at No. 24 overall, quickly broke that record.
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Jordan Walker would have led a 12-man recruiting class into a Duke program that is looking for that breakthrough of reaching the College World Series after coming one game short in back-to-back seasons prior to the canceled 2020 season because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Duke has been burned by high school commits being drafted early in the MLB Draft in recent years and turning pro, but that has not stopped the progress head coach Chris Pollard and his staff have made.