Crooks' Bat Could Supercharge Cardinals Lineup

0:00On April 23rd, young catcher Jimmy Crookes is lighting up the St. Louis Cardinals minor leagues to start the 2026 season. In just 18 AAA games, he's crushed 8 home runs, knocked in 17 RBIs and slashed 288 over 413 slash 6. 67. That's an OPS of 1079 pure dominance from the team's number 8 prospect. He flashed serious potential in spring training 2, hitting 333 over 333 slash 583 with 1 homer, 4 RBIs in 5 games. But the Cardinals stuck with Ivan Herrera, Pedro Pages and Yohel Pozo on the big league roster giving Herrera most of the starts behind the plate. Meanwhile, those backups are struggling hard. Pages is batting just 204 over 16 games and Pozo's at 125 in 7. With the Cardinals sitting pretty of 14 wins and 10 losses, fans are buzzing that Crookes' bat could supercharge the lineup right now.

1:02His small sample screams, promotion. He's outperformed everyone to catcher and offers way more offensive pop long. Swapping him for Pages makes total sense while Herrera keeps getting his reps at catcher or DH. The cards need to pull the trigger, fast. Crookes brings immediate offense and a real shot at their future backstop, turning a good start into something special. MLB news today, powered by AI bringing you what matters on the diamond.