Changes Lead To Continuity For Cardinals Catcher Jimmy Crooks
As he spent a second consecutive spring training with a second different setup behind the plate, Jimmy Crooks got advice, confidence and, most of all, camaraderie from the big league catchers he could huddle with in the clubhouse.
The transition from a traditional catcher’s squat to the chic one-knee-down style was made easier because of conversations with Willson Contreras, Ivan Herrera and Pedro Pages.
“It was key to pick all their brains (on) what I need to do behind the plate,” Crooks said. “I learned a lot from Contreras with one-knee, to try to be as quick as I can to steal strikes as much as I can.”
The 23-year-old Crooks found his footing with his new catching stance and never showed any slip at the plate. The lefthanded hitter won the Double-A Texas League MVP award for slashing .321/.410/.498 with 11 home runs in 90 games for Double-A Springfield.
The shift to one-knee down helped Crooks block pitches and frame more strikes low in the zone, but it took time to master the footwork required to throw out basestealers. He relied on his arm strength to throw out 33% of them.
Crooks also missed time with a fractured finger and hamstring injuries, the latter of which prompted him to seek an offseason program to be “more explosive.” He described how he wanted to get stronger through his legs, more flexible and most of all “explosive” to create power for his swing and durability for his position.
The Cardinals plan for Crooks to be their priority catcher at Triple-A Memphis and see his arrival in the majors as not too distant. The 2022 fourth-rounder out of Oklahoma has a compact swing with more power to tap while he becomes more consistent with catching.
This spring, instead of change he’ll find continuity—the same stance, the same group of catchers.
“I’m starting to get more comfortable as we go,” he said. “I’m starting to get a lot more comfortable with game-calling, just how I play. Trust my stuff. Get after it.”
REDBIRD CHIRPS
-— Among the players the Cardinals must protect from the Rule 5 draft this winter are two of their top rising pitching prospects, Tink Hence and Tekoah Roby. The two righthanders were teammates at Double-A Springfield in 2024. The 22-year-old Hence won the Texas League’s pitcher of the year honor. Roby ran up a 6.57 ERA in 10 starts during a limited season, his first full one with the Cardinals after being traded from Texas.
— Gathering at-bats that will slingshot him into competing for a starting role with the Cardinals next spring, second baseman Thomas Saggese hit .391/.524/.594 through 18 games in the Arizona Fall League. The Cardinals see Saggese as a righthanded heir to a everyday utility role most recently manned by Gold Glove-winner Brendan Donovan and 2024 NLCS MVP Tommy Edman.
