Cardinals' Jordan Walker is on Mark McGwire's 70-HR pace originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.The most famous home run hitting season in the history of the St. Louis Cardinals happened in that famous summer of 1998.Mark McGwire, 70 homers, history.

And right now, Jordan Walker is keeping pace.In 1998, McGwire had eight home runs through 16 games.Walker's homer on Monday night against the Guardians was his eighth of the season through 16 games.Most home runs in team’s first 16 games of season, Cardinals history:2006 Albert Pujols: 112026 Jordan Walker: 82004 Scott Rolen: 81998 Mark McGwire: 81954 Stan Musial: 8 https://t.co/0DuZ5Nitrs— Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) April 14, 2026MORE:Blue Jays' Ernie Clement is a battle between old-school and new-age baseballClearly, McGwire got even hotter for a stretch later in that season. But homering in half of your games would send you on the way to setting the all-time single-season record.Walker only hit six home runs in more than 100 games last season, so this is also a pace that he'll be quite happy with personally.He was once a top prospect, and then he fell way off the map.

Now, Walker is back and slugging at an impressive level.It's rare to get a Cardinals home run hitter in a conversation with McGwire (and also the other names above Pujols, Rolen and Musial). But right now, that's exactly what Walker is doing.More MLB news:Explaining the absurdity of 2 MLB players named Max MuncyHe almost retired, but instead he hit his first grand slamWhite Sox are holding a Pope Leo XIV promotionThis slider is really good and moves the entirely wrong directionDid Bo Bichette have a hidden injury?