Cardinals' Catching Prospect Ends Up-and-Down Season with Playoff Flourish

An up-and-down season – both in terms of his production and him being shuttled between Triple-A, the Cardinals and back to Memphis – Jimmy Crooks proved to be a steadying force on a Redbirds squad that narrowly missed out on an International League title on Thursday night.

Crooks, 25, was held in check in Memphis’ 3-2 loss to Rochester (Nats) in Game 3 of the International League championship series, but that did little to dim his significant impact on the series.

Despite going 0 for 3 with two strikeouts on Thursday, Crooks was still arguably the best player on the field throughout the series. Over the first two games of the series, Crooks went 5 for 7 with two homers and seven RBI to put Memphis in position to win a fifth league title since becoming an affiliate of the Cardinals.

It was positive finish for Crooks, who was demoted to Triple-A Memphis on Aug. 31 in favor of rookie sensation Leo Bernal. Crooks, a fourth-round pick out of the Oklahoma University in 2022, slashed just .179/.255/.336/.591 with six doubles, five homers and 14 RBI in 52 games with the Cardinals while sharing catching duties with Ivan Herrera and Pedro Pages. At issue for Crooks was his 48 strikeouts compared to just nine walks.

A chase rate of 36.3 percent, a whiff rate of 34.2 percent and a 32.2 strikeout rate ultimately led to him getting sent back to Triple-A Memphis.

Still, the timing of Crooks’ demotion was odd considering that he homered and helped teammate and close friend Quinn Mathews win his first MLB game on Aug. 28 against the Pirates at Busch Stadium. Three days later, he was headed back to Memphis.

Crooks responded well to his return to Triple-A by hitting .408 (20 of 49) with three doubles, two homers and nine RBI over 13 games in September. That hot stretch carried over to the playoff series against Rochester when Crooks almost single-handedly led Memphis to an International League title.

In Game 1’s 4-3 loss, Crooks went 3 for 4 with a majestic 431-foot homer that left his bat at 106.4 mph.

Then, facing a must-win situation on Wednesday night, Crooks propelled Memphis’ offense to 13 runs in the game’s first three innings. He hit a 383-foot, three-run homer in the second inning to give Memphis a lead it would not surrender. For the game, he drove in five runs as Memphis forced a deciding Game 3 on Thursday.