Jimmy Crooks, who hit a towering home run on Friday and doubled in his final at bat on Saturday, is being demoted to Triple-A Memphis to make room in the catching rotation for 22-year-old Leo Bernal. Crooks' 32.2 percent K rate and his lack of success in throwing out base runners cost him dearly.
The fact that the Cardinals are promoting Triple-A standout Leo Bernal to try and fortify their sagging production from their catchers at the big-level came as little surprise.
But the fact that the Cards demoted 25-year-old catcher Jimmy Crooks to Triple-A Memphis – in a rebuilding season designed to give young players time to develop at baseball’s highest level – came as somewhat of a shock on Tuesday.
Crooks, who hit a towering homer and guided teammate and close friend Quinn Mathews to his first MLB victory last Friday night at Busch Stadium, is being demoted to Triple-A Memphis to make room in the catching rotation for the 22-year-old Bernal. The Cardinals made the move with Crooks official on Tuesday morning. The catcher will return to Memphis where he starred in 39 games prior to being promoted to the Cardinals on May 29.
Victor Scott II, who started the season on the Cardinals' Opening Day roster before being demoted to Triple-A Memphis on June 8, was recalled on Tuesday. Scott, who hit .194 in 61 games with the Cardinals earlier this season, batted .237 with 11 doubles, two homers, 17 RBI and 23 stolen bases in 57 games with Triple-A Memphis.
With MLB rosters expanding to 28 today, the Cardinals are planning to promote right-handed reliever Hancel Rincon and Bernal, the club’s Minor League Player of the Year in 2025, prior to facing the back-to-back champion Dodgers on Tuesday night. Bernal, a Minor League Gold Glove winner in 2025, has thrown out 27.4 percent of base stealers in Triple-A. However, he has committed nine errors and has allowed five passed balls this season.
Crooks made his MLB debut in 2025, but struggled with swing-and-miss issues and started the 2026 season at Triple-A Memphis where he smacked 13 homers and drove in 29 runs to earn another promotion. However, he has hit just .179 with a .591 OPS and five homers and 14 RBI. Particularly at issue was his 32.2 percent strikeout rate (48 strikeouts in 149 plate appearances) and his 0.06 percent walk rate (nine walks in 149 plate appearances).
Crooks (46 games) split time with Pedro Pages (72 games) and Ivan Herrera (48 games) behind the plate this season. The Cardinals have been unable to find much steady production from their catchers on either side of the ball. Their catchers have combined for just 43 RBI, last in the National League. Their catching corps also rank 12th in homers (12), 12th in OPS (.669), 13th in slugging (.356), sixth in on-base percentage (.313) and ninth in batting average (.229) in the NL.
Defensively, Cardinals’ catchers have thrown out just 17 base stealers, which ties them for 17th in MLB. In terms of Outs Above Average defensively, the Cards’ minus-two rating ranks 18th in MLB. Pages ranks above the MLB league average (29 percent) in throwing out base runners (14 of 44, 32 percent), but Herrera (1 of 31, 0.03 percent) and Crooks (1 of 11, 1 percent) have lagged badly in slowing opposing running games.
Crooks hit a 416-foot homer on Friday night and worked with Mathews (5 2/3 innings, five hits, one earned run and seven strikeouts) for a 4-1 defeat of the Pirates. He also had a double in his final at bat on Saturday, but those highlights didn’t help him overcome a poor August where he hit just .204 with 18 strikeouts compared to only two walks.
