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Cardinals' Catching Prospect Ends Up-and-Down Season with Playoff Flourish
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- Cardinals' Catching Prospect Ends Up-and-Down Season with Playoff Flourish
(Patrick Gorski-Imagn Images)
An up-and-down season – both in terms of his production andhim being shuttled between Triple-A, the Cardinals and back to Memphis – JimmyCrooks proved to be a steadying force on a Redbirds squad that narrowly missedout on an International League title on Thursday night.
Crooks, 25, was held in check in Memphis' 3-2 loss toRochester (Nats) in Game 3 of the International League championship series, butthat did little to dim his significant impact on the series.
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Despite going 0 for 3 with two strikeouts on Thursday, Crookswas still arguably the best player on the field throughout the series. Over thefirst two games of the series, Crooks went 5 for 7 with two homers and sevenRBI to put Memphis in position to win a fifth league title since becoming anaffiliate of the Cardinals.
It was positive finish for Crooks, who was demoted toTriple-A Memphis on Aug. 31 in favor of rookie sensation Leo Bernal. Crooks, afourth-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 withthe 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 percentand a 32.2 strikeout rate ultimately led to him getting sent back to Triple-AMemphis.
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Still, the timing of Crooks' demotion was odd consideringthat he homered and helped teammate and close friend Quinn Mathews win hisfirst MLB game on Aug. 28 against the Pirates at Busch Stadium. Three dayslater, 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 inSeptember. That hot stretch carried over to the playoff series againstRochester when Crooks almost single-handedly led Memphis to an International Leaguetitle.
In Game 1's 4-3 loss, Crooks went 3 for 4 with a majestic431-foot homer that left his bat at 106.4 mph.
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Then, facing a must-win situation on Wednesday night, Crookspropelled Memphis' offense to 13 runs in the game's first three innings. He hita 383-foot, three-run homer in the second inning to give Memphis a lead itwould not surrender. For the game, he drove in five runs as Memphis forced adeciding Game 3 on Thursday.
