Jordan Walden was born on November 16, 1987 (he just turned 27). Walden attended Mansfield High School in Mansfield, Texas. Growing up, Jordan was friends with Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw (hope Jordan doesn't mind the Cards recent domination of his old friend) and Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford. Walden is not small in size. He is listed at 6''5' and weighs 250 pounds.
Jordan was drafted by the Angels in the 12th round of the 2006 draft. Before the 2009 season, Walden was named the 70th best prospect in baseball. On August 22, 2010 Walden was promoted by the Angels and only 2 days later, Walden had his fastball clocked at 100.5 MPH in a game vs the Tampa Bay Rays. Later that week on August 27, 2010 Walden got promoted to the set up man role for the Angels.
April 2011 saw Walden became the full time closer for the Angels and later that season he was selected to the AL All Star Team. The 2012 season was not as kind to Walden and he lost his closer role. After the season, Walden was traded to the Atlanta Braves for starting pitcher Tommy Hanson.
Overall, Walden owns a 3.10 ERA in 211 2/3 career innings. According to RotoWorld.com, Walden's best season was in 2014 when he posted a 2.88 ERA with 62 strikeouts in 50 IP. Many believe that Walden will fill the 8th inning role for the St. Louis Cardinals and he could even be a backup option for the closer role if Trever Rosenthal were to struggle.
One of things that make Walden unique is his pitching motion. Jordan hops in the middle of the windup, and actually has both feet in the air for a split second, before returning to the ground and throwing the ball. I have included a link below so you can see this unique motion.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7i4sCPc5I-Q
- @BirdsOnTheBat13
(All information was found on Wikipedia, RotoWorld, and Youtube)
Hard to believe he gets 100+ without pushing off the rubber!
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