Staring at an 0-for-3 night and the likely end to his 17-game hitting streak if he didn’t get a knock in Thursday’s eighth inning, Cardinals’ first baseman Alec Burleson could have easily abandoned his hitting principles and swung from the heels against Royals' reliever Beck Way.

Instead, Burleson showed off his professionalism and seriousness about his craft by remaining disciplined at the dish. Even though he is clearly one of MLB’s most skilled bad ball hitters, Burleson laid off the low-and-in pitch and ball two far off the plate to get ahead early in the count. Then, after fouling off a strike, Burleson patiently looked on as Way fired two more pitches off the plate and he took the walk that all but ended the longest hitting streak of his MLB career.

Even though Burleson is in his best hitting stretch of the season – he is hitting .284 with five doubles, six homers and 16 RBI in June – he still considers himself to be searching to find his stroke at the plate.

“Obviously I’m grateful to be able to help this team in at least one at bat a game, but I feel like there have been a lot of at bats over the last few weeks that I should have been able to take advantage of and a lot of pitches where I should hit them but have fouled off or swung through, said Burleson, who went hitless in a game for the first time since May 29 against the Cubs. “Yeah, I’ve had a handful that I have hit hard, and I’ve driven in some runs, but I told (hitting coach Brant Brown) that this has been a weird season for me.

“I don’t feel like I’ve gone into the box or into a game where I’m feeling like I’m seeing beach balls and I’m ready to do that. There’s always been something that I’m trying to fix or get more comfortable, so it’s been a weird season for me. But I’ll continue to work through that and hopefully it turns around for me.”

Burleson, a Silver Slugger award winner in 2025 for the first time in his career, definitely has high standards set for himself since he hasn’t felt comfortable while being one of the Cardinals most productive hitters all season.

Thus far, Burleson has slashed .282/.345/.482/.827 to go with 18 doubles, 13 homers and 54 RBI. Burleson recently joined famed slugger Mark McGwire as the only Cardinals to homer at least five times on a six-game road trip when he went deep in all three games at New York’s Citi Field and twice at Minnesota’s Target Field. Also, he’s come up big in the clutch by hitting .329 with eight doubles, two homers and 41 RBI with runners in scoring position.

Burleson’s diligence in knowing opposing pitchers, knowing their plan of attack against him and the adjustments he must make earned him high praise from manager Oliver Marmol.

“He’s just a professional hitter,” Marmol said. “He’s one of those guys who has a really good plan and really commits to it. I’ve said that a ton, but that’s what allows him to have success. When we talk about guys studying the game and studying the opposition, he knows exactly how he’s going to be attacked and how he wants to combat it and veering from it if necessary.”

Burleson, 27, has said an area where he must get better is how he competes against left-handed pitching. While he has mashed righties to the tune of a .327 batting average, a .993 OPS, 16 doubles, 12 homers and 41 RBI, he has hit a paltry .182 against opposing southpaws. It came as little surprise that his hitting streak came to an end on a night when lefty Noah Cameron started for the Royals and held Burleson in check over his first three at bats – even though the sweet-swinging lefty did a plate a run in the first inning with a sacrifice fly.

Still, Burleson thinks there’s another gear he can get to as a hitter who can be even more productive for the Cardinals.

“I haven’t been hitting lefties and my (hitting) with runners in scoring position hasn’t been great, so there’s a lot to still work on,” he said. “But it’s just about trying to find a way to get onto base and help this team. And I’m trying to get on base for the guys behind me who are hitting really well right now.

“But I still feel there’s more to work on for me. I’m not upset by any means, but there are a lot of opportunities that I have left out there. More of those than the ones I have taken advantage of.”

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