Alec Burleson, who completed his fourth year in the majors this season, was recognized for his stellar offensive season.
The St. Louis Cardinals had a down season in 2025.
The Cardinals, still in the early years of a rebuild, finished the season 78-84 and fourth place in the National League Central. The only division rival to finish behind St. Louis was the 71-91 Pittsburgh Pirates.
But there were some highlights for the Cardinals in 2025. Namely the season had by first baseman/outfielder Alec Burleson.
The fourth-year slugger was up for the National League's Silver Slugger award at the utility position. He was announced as the winner of the award Thursday.
It was the first Silver Slugger award of Burleson's career and the first won by a St. Louis player since Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado each won one in 2022.
Burleson scored 54 runs in 139 games this season. He hit 26 doubles, two triples and 18 home runs with 69 RBIs. He slashed .290/.343/.459 with an .802 OPS. His doubles, batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage and OPS were all single-season career-highs.
After the announcement, Cardinals legend and former pitcher Adam Wainwright shared a message of congratulations for Burleson.
"Yo! This message is for Alec Burleson. Hey, buddy. You're awesome. Great teammate, great friend, great person in the clubhouse, dang good hitter. There's a lot of great things you do and I want to say that today is a cool day for me, because I get to welcome you into a new club. A pretty cool club. And only the coolest people in the world get to be in this club. You, Alec Burleson, are a Silver Slugger. Congratulations, buddy. You earned it. You're awesome, you raked this year. Keep it up, man. I want to see you win 10 of these in a row. See ya."
Wainwright, who spent the entirety of his career with St. Louis from 2005-23, won the Silver Slugger award in 2017. He and Burleson were teammates from 2022 to Wainwright's final season in '23.
Burleson will play 2026 in his first year of arbitration.
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