96TH MLB ALL-STAR GAME

July 13, 2026

Jordan Walker

Kleininger Teran

Citizen's Bank Park

Home Run Derby Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: We'll get started with the 2026 T-Mobile Home Run Derby Champion, Jordan Walker. We have his pitcher KT with him. We'll take questions.

Q. Jordan, congratulations. You know, you said you wanted to play in the Home Run Derby just one time. Could you tell me the feeling of winning it, and will you do it again?

JORDAN WALKER: I can't answer that second one right now, but -- I'm losing my voice. I'm sorry -- I can't even describe how it means to win it. It was a lot of swings, a lot of pressure, but I think I just had fun no matter what. Like, every round I was having a good time, you know?

As a kid when I grew up, my favorite thing to do playing baseball was to hit home runs. When a competition is dedicated to doing it, I'm going to have fun doing it.

Q. Jordan, you've had your family with you, the series in Atlanta, and they were here tonight. How awesome has that been that they've been along for this ride the last few weeks?

JORDAN WALKER: It's been amazing. When times get tough, they always have my back. I can't ask for more than that. Yeah, truly special.

Q. The Philly crowd was having a lot of fun cheering against guys not wearing Phillies uniforms. What was that like for you? How would you describe that? What did it do for you?

JORDAN WALKER: My thought was Philly is brutal. I mean, honestly. But I think it's pretty special because they love their players and that's what you want from your home -- like, where you play. I mean, I'd never hear people cheer so loud for, like, Schwarber and Harper. And those guys did their thing, for sure.

But, you know, I can't hate them, because that's their guy, so I just got to play the game.

Q. Jordan, can you tell us something about the mindset you had there in those final six swings, knowing what you had to do, and being able to accomplish those six swings to capture the home run title?

JORDAN WALKER: Honestly, the pressure, people booing me. My one thought was to stay fluid. Can't swing too hard, I'll miss the ball. And that was it. KT did an unbelievable job throwing money BP the whole time. So props to him.

Q. Can you talk about the man sitting next to you, how he pitched to you, and how key that was? And if Mr. Teran can also talk about what his strategy was as the...

JORDAN WALKER: If y'all know, throwing BP is not as easy as it looks, and he made it look easy. I've been with KT, what, three years now?

KLEININGER TERAN: Yeah.

JORDAN WALKER: And I've always been like that. His BP is money, and every time I'm not in his BP group, I'm a little upset.

But I'm glad to have him throwing me some really unbelievable BP. And as much pressure as I was feeling, I can imagine he was nervous as well. But he overcame that. Overcame it really well.

KLEININGER TERAN: First of all, thank you, Jordan, for inviting me to this event. That was pretty special.

It's not really strategy. The only strategy was trying to throw down the middle, and I think he did a great job because I didn't throw any one in the middle. I threw some balls, and he took it. That helped me out when he did that, so thank you.

Q. After seeing what Caminero did in the first round and some of the bombs he was hitting, what was your mindset facing him in the second round?

JORDAN WALKER: I was, like, okay, we have a tough matchup. He's an unbelievable hitter. He's one of the guys I love watching take at-bats during his games. He has juice to all parts of the field. He hits balls out of the zone for homers. He's just a special, electric player.

When I matched up with him, I was like, all right, we've got some work to do for sure.

Q. Can you just talk about your entire season, what it's been like just to play as well as you have, you know, get to the All-Star Game, and now to have this happen? Do you pinch yourself a little bit on how well the season has gone for you?

JORDAN WALKER: Yeah, I mean, personally I like it so far, but I don't think about it until the end of the season comes. Anything can happen. But I'm just going to stay kind of -- I want to stay grounded. I want to stay in my routine and keep things as simple as possible and not think about much.

Q. Jordan, can you talk about the details that are on your bat and the idea behind it and what the story is with it?

JORDAN WALKER: I'm a big Marvel fan. Anybody want to guess who this is right here?

Q. Iron Man.

JORDAN WALKER: Yeah, absolutely. So I wanted to do something special. Being into anime too, so it was between those two things. But this one kind of took over because I've never done it before.

Q. Jordan, congrats.

JORDAN WALKER: What's going on, man?

Q. What message do you have for all the young kids out there about staying in it even when the odds aren't with you?

JORDAN WALKER: Absolutely. I mean, I say my message for kids overall is just to have fun with the game. I mean, you're a kid. You know what I mean, you're supposed to have fun. You're supposed to love baseball. You can't put too much pressure on yourself early on. You can worry about that stuff later.

But, also, when things get tough, just keep your head up, man. This game is hard. You fail a lot. You have to accept that and keep going.

Q. First of all, congrats on becoming the first Cardinal ever to win the Home Run Derby. Second of all, that is a sick jacket.

JORDAN WALKER: Thank you. They gave it to me. I'm keeping it maybe. Hang it up somewhere. We'll see.

Q. What was your mind like when you hit that Home Run Derby-winning home run?

JORDAN WALKER: Honestly, I hit it, and I was just -- honestly I was hoping it would get out. I didn't know if I got it well enough. As I saw it carrying a little bit, I was getting excited. When it cleared the bleachers, that's when I kind of blacked out and just celebrated with my teammates.

Q. Jordan, congratulations. Just two things. Can you kind of talk about how hard it is to just focus and hit home runs in a derby and versus in a game? A lot of players say they don't try to hit home runs. Is that the same for you? Secondly, I saw you interview earlier with Chris Young. Can you call yourself 5 Chains now that you are a derby champion?

JORDAN WALKER: Yeah, I'm a big fan of channel steel, so as much as I can have, I'll take it. Honestly, it is. It is. A lot of these home run guys, I feel like don't really ever try to hit homers. They just run into the ball.

And myself included, I feel like my homers that I hit, I'm just -- I'm more easy. I'm not forcing it. Because when I do, I start missing the ball.

In the Home Run Derby when you're especially trying to hit homers, it's just a different approach. I want to do take something similar to what I do in the game and just swing easy and see what happens.

Q. You were talking earlier about the challenge of facing the boos in the crowd. You had a while to build up on to that to seeing what Schwarber was doing in the round before that. How much was that going through your head that you are going to have attack that if you do face him in the final?

JORDAN WALKER: It was definitely there, but that's what baseball is. My goal is to win a World Series, and I feel like it's going to happen then too. I'll have to face it at some point in my life. I'd rather face it now.

Q. What did you think of the new format, and do you think -- obviously each round gets more pressure-packed, but do you think that the new format added more pressure and intensity to the final couple of rounds?

JORDAN WALKER: I've never used the old format, honestly. I was really an outsider looking in on the old format.

Personally I enjoyed it. I can take my time, get my best swing off. And it does add a little bit more pressure because you know there's a set number -- you have a set amount of swings to get to that number. But I tried my best not to think about that.

Q. I see you have your lovely family here in the back. A lot of us were watching the Home Run Derby. We were joking around online saying, we got to protect Jordan Walker. Ultimately we said we've got to protect Jordan Walker's family at all costs because they were showing them on the big screen. What's it mean to you to have such a strong support system, because I know obviously they're talking about your season and everything that you've been through. Those people in the back have been through it with you every step of the way. Just brag a little bit about the support system that you have and what they gave to you?

JORDAN WALKER: It's been unreal. I don't know if I would be in this All-Star/Home Run Derby spot without them. When things got tough, they were always there in my corner to talk to them about it. They kept the energy levels high. They kept the feelings high. Because a lot of this game is mental, and going into it out of high school, I didn't realize that and definitely had to learn.

I mean, my family, dad, mom, grandma back there, friends, girlfriend, sister somewhere over there, and then teammates, Coach, everybody, have always had my back, and that's just something you can't buy and you can't find very easily anywhere.

Q. You received some bling from Ryan Howard. What was that, and can you talk about that?

JORDAN WALKER: Yeah, this chain right here? This is a top chain. It's the Home Run Derby champ chain. I don't know if it's coming off tonight.

Q. I talked to you a couple of hours before the derby about representation and what it means to put on on a national stage. What's it mean for you to win the derby especially for young black and brown kids that are looking to you as a role model?

JORDAN WALKER: I mean, I hope it means a lot to them. I want to be a role model for the black kids, you know, and I want more black kids in baseball. Hopefully this raises some awareness. I know a lot of them are playing basketball, football route, but I want them to know the baseball route is open to them too. And there are a lot of kids that are athletic enough and mentally strong enough, black kids that can play this game, and I want to see them do it.

Q. You are having a great year and all that, but how does it feel to finally start to come into your own this year and how much does this Home Run Derby do that for you?

JORDAN WALKER: I mean, yeah, honestly I didn't know what to expect coming into this Home Run Derby. There are guys who have done it before. The approach was kind of to take something away from them who have done it before as it was going on.

In all honestly, I had a lot of fun with it. That was what it was. I tried to get my best swing off, but just watching their composure as well helped me towards my game. No matter what, they were staying composed even when their swings weren't going their way. They took their time, and they went about their business, and I'm just excited to see more of that as this All-Star week is going on.

Q. As I was mentioning before, you're the first player in Cardinals history to win this. When you consider that Pujols and McGwire never did this, what's it mean for you to be the first in franchise history to do this?

JORDAN WALKER: I mean, it definitely means a lot. I mean, they've done it -- they've exceeded expectations over many years during the season, and honestly I think that's where it really matters.

So I definitely have a lot of learning to do. I have a lot after catching up to do if I want to be called one of the greats like them, but they're definitely great role models that I look up to, and I want to be at the end of my career.