​The St. Louis Cardinals have spent a good portion of the 2026 season searching for consistent production behind the plate, and one of their young catchers continues to make a persuasive case that he deserves an extended opportunity. Jimmy Crooks wasn’t slated to start the year in the majors after beginning the season at Triple-A Memphis, but the former fourth-round pick has steadily worked his way into the conversation whenever the Cardinals have needed catching depth. While his overall offensive numbers remain a work in progress, the organization still believes the 24-year-old possesses the tools that once made him one of the club’s top prospects and a potential long-term answer behind the plate.
For a Cardinals club balancing a push for immediate results with developing its next core, Crooks represents an intriguing piece of the future. His journey to the majors has been anything but straightforward. After starring at Trinity High School in Texas, he moved on to McLennan Community College before transferring to Oklahoma, where he became one of the Sooners’ most dependable hitters and leaders. His advanced approach at the plate drew attention from scouts, prompting the Cardinals to select him in the fourth round of the 2022 MLB Draft with the 127th overall pick.
Crooks wasted little time proving he belonged in professional baseball. He hit .266 in his first professional season before taking another step forward in 2023, batting .271 with 12 home runs and 73 RBIs across High-A Peoria and a brief stop at Triple-A Memphis. His breakout continued in 2024 at Double-A Springfield, where he slashed .321 with 11 homers and 62 RBIs in 90 games. That performance solidified him as one of the organization’s premier catching prospects and reinforced the belief that he could contribute at the major league level in due time.
The Cardinals rewarded Crooks with his first major league promotion late in the 2025 season. He debuted on August 29 against the Cincinnati Reds and, two days later, collected his first big-league hit—a solo homer off reliever Sam Moll—that underscored his potential to impact games even in limited at-bats. Although he appeared in only 15 games during his rookie campaign and hit .133, the brief stint provided invaluable exposure to major league pitching and a clearer sense of the adjustments needed to succeed at baseball’s highest level. Those early lessons have continued to shape his ongoing development.
Entering 2026, Crooks was again in the mix for future opportunities, even as he began the season back at Triple-A. In his initial stretch of big-league action this year, he has posted a .147 average with two home runs and eight RBIs—numbers that don’t fully capture the scope of his potential or his on-field tools. The left-handed hitter has consistently demonstrated in the minors the kind of approach, contact, and power that project as major league-ready when paired with the necessary adjustments and extended exposure to top-tier pitching.
Beyond the statistics, Crooks’ value lies in what he represents for the Cardinals. He brings a left-handed bat with college-level plate discipline, enough raw pop to threaten pitchers, and the versatility to handle catching duties with enough defensive aptitude to stay behind the plate as a regular option. His development is particularly relevant for a franchise that has been weighing immediate production against cultivating a sustainable core for the future. Crooks’ continual presence in the majors when called upon signals that he is more than a temporary injury fill-in; it suggests he could become a durable contributor if given ongoing opportunities to refine his craft at the highest level.
The organization remains encouraged by his progress and his ability to translate minor-league success into sporadic major-league opportunities that test and sharpen his approach. For now, Crooks continues to serve as a compelling case study in the potential payoff of promoting a promising catcher from within, one who has already shown the patience and adaptability necessary to survive and thrive as a professional baseball player at the sport’s highest echelon. As the season unfolds, the Cardinals will likely monitor his development closely, weighing the immediate need for reliable catching depth against the long-term benefits of a player who could grow into a cornerstone of their lineup behind the plate.