Jordan Walker has the feel of a potential future face of the Cardinals. He’s certainly got the gentle giant demeanor and affable nature coupled with outstanding physical gifts and skills at such a young age.

He seems almost suited for that role, whether it be interacting with fans in Peoria, Illinois, on the Cardinals Caravan or at Winter Warm-up or taking in a Blues game at Enterprise Center — though he’ll learn to bring a spare hat in case a Blues player records a hat trick.

This year will determine how Walker deals with the expectation that he’ll continue to get better, the tough love of coaches and teammates as they try to push him to his potential, and the challenge of facing a league that almost never fails to humble rising younger stars.

Walker, who turned 21 last May, made the leap from minor league star and spring training showstopper to the opening day starting lineup last year. He experienced his growing pains, including a brief demotion back to the minors, and enjoyed some success.

Now, the hard part. He must build on his rookie season and progress toward the potential and projections many have ticketed for him in the majors.

“I think he’s going to show up this year and handle business,” Cardinals shortstop Masyn Winn said Sunday during Winter Warm-up at Busch Stadium. “He doesn’t hear a lot of outside noise. So the media doesn’t really affect him. Comments don’t really affect him. He’s really just going to go out there, play for his family, play for his brothers. I think he’ll have a great year again.”

Winn, Walker’s draft classmate and closest friend on the team, had a simple and direct prediction on how Walker’s second season in the big leagues will unfold.

“I expect to see Jordan Walker things,” Winn said. “I mean, I’ve seen him play for three, four years now. He’s only gotten bigger and better every year.”

True to form, the 6-foot-6, right-handed-hitting Walker has gotten bigger. He’s been adding strength this winter, and his weight has approached 260 pounds (up to 259.4 pounds at his latest check). The Georgia native has spent this offseason training and working out under the direction of coaches and staff at the Cardinals facility in Jupiter, Florida.

Walker said he made the move to Florida at the suggestion of the Cardinals strength and conditioning staff. So far, he reports, it has paid dividends in the form of his feeling “more explosive” and “fluid” while having also added weight.

Last season in 116 games in the majors, Walker hit 16 home runs with a batting average of .276, a .342 on-base percentage and a .445 slugging percentage. Including his 29 games in the minors, he hit a total of 20 home runs last season.

He hit 19 home runs the previous season at Double-A, where he’d also batted .306 for the season and registered a batting average of .300 or higher in all but one month of the regular season.

Asked by a reporter if 30 home runs was “realistic” for him in 2024, Walker said he he’d like to think so.

“I’ve always wanted to be a hitter that can drive the ball,” Walker said. “Now that I’ve seen for a year how they’ve pitched me and what to expect, talking to (Paul Goldschmidt), talking to (Nolan Arenado) about how my approach should be at the plate, I feel like I can be a consistent hitter that drives the ball to all parts of the field. And I can drive the ball over the wall.

“I want to also be a consistent hitter as well. I want to be able to get on base by hitting the ball higher than the average. I want to hit for average. I want to hit for power. I believe, based off of the first season, that if I make those adjustments this offseason, then I can do both of those.”

He’s been hitting daily in Jupiter, often alongside Cardinals super-utility player Brendan Donovan. Walker said Donovan, who is rehabbing from elbow surgery, has basically served as an extra hitting coach for him this winter.

A big part of Walker’s focus this winter has been maintaining and improving his lateral quickness while adding weight and strength.

“I grew fast, and they told me that, so it was just a little bit difficult,” Walker said. “I was a little bit behind, catching up to how my body moved. They’ve definitely helped me out this offseason. I have to continue to do my drills so I can maintain it.”

Walker’s daily routine, which begins with him getting on the field around 9:45 a.m. to stretch, includes daily drills under the direction of player development coordinator of instruction and defensive guru Jose Oquendo.

Oquendo, who broke down video of Walker’s play in the outfield last season, selects a set of drills each day and runs Walker through them for a half-hour to an hour. They cover everything from first-step quickness and tracking fly balls to coming in on the ball and to fielding the ball in a position that allows him to be ready to throw.

A former third baseman who converted to the outfield late in the 2022 minor league season, Walker ranked 125th of 126 qualified outfielders in the majors in the defensive metric outs above average. He registered -14 outs above average, better only than the Philadelphia Phillies’ Kyle Schwarber (-19).

Walker said he receives blunt assessments from Oquendo on a daily basis, and he has appreciated the honesty.

“I wouldn’t want him to sugarcoat it at all,” Walker said. “I feel like when you’re sugarcoating it, you’re trying to keep from hurting someone’s feelings. But no, sometimes you’re going to have to hurt someone’s feelings if they want to be good at something. He’s definitely been tough on me.”

The Cardinals will enter spring training with a projected outfield of Lars Nootbaar in left field, Tommy Edman in center field and Walker in right field.

Walker and Nootbaar represent a pair of homegrown corner outfielders who have shown great potential as dynamic hitters, but they haven’t yet reached their ceilings at the big league level. In Nootbaar’s case, an inability to stay healthy for a full season has been a sticking point thus far.

“I think in Walker’s case, from a defensive standpoint, you hope he can get to where he’s at least league-average,” Cardinals president of baseball operations John Mozeliak said. “We certainly felt like he was trending that way towards the end of last year. He’s been spending the month of January working with Jose Oquendo down in Florida. That’s encouraging.

“From an offensive side, it’s a pretty exciting group. Guys that actually profile out as corner outfielders that the sky could be the limit. Ultimately, that’s what you’re hoping to see come together.”