Crooks’ callup reflects Cards’ bigger plan for young talent

Jimmy Crooks’ promotion to St. Louis was not just about finding more offense behind the plate. It was a window into how the Cardinals plan to handle their wave of young talent in 2026 – have them help the big league club when the timing is right, but not at the expense of long-term development.

Crooks got his first taste of the big leagues last year, and those 15 games showed he still had a lot to improve upon both at and behind the plate. The Cardinals gave him things to work on ahead of the ‘26 season, and he showed the front office enough to earn his next opportunity with the big league club.

“With Jimmy [Crooks], this is obviously something that we’re hoping everybody would excel, and he would just knock the door down, and he’s done a lot of things in that direction,” president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom said at the Cardinals' annual bloggers and podcasters event. “I don’t know that we can ever say decisively that the player has accomplished every single thing they could possibly accomplish in Triple-A, but in terms of the things that we laid out for him in the offseason, even as the season was going on, he was executing on all of them.”

Calls for Crooks to get another shot grew louder early in the year as he tore the cover off the baseball for Triple-A Memphis. But even as he did damage at the plate, there were legitimate concerns that his swing-and-miss and chase issues could be exploited by Major League pitching. But during the month of May, Crooks made major strides in those departments while continuing to do damage to the baseball (.980 OPS in Triple-A).

“Obviously, there was a lot of swing and miss, a lot of chase there, that he has moved in the right direction,” Bloom said of Crooks’ continued development. “This level’s tough here; we know that they know what he’s done well and what he’s struggled with, and they are going to pitch him accordingly. But he had done enough, we thought, to really merit an opportunity, and we felt like where we were at team-wise, we were in a good spot to do it.”

That standard is expected to apply beyond Crooks as the Cardinals weigh how aggressively to promote other young talent.

Crooks is far from the only prospect generating a lot of buzz at Triple-A. There is growing chatter that third baseman Blaze Jordan and outfielder Joshua Báez (who just mashed his 17th home run of the season), will get their shots at having an impact on the Major League roster. But both still have significant development concerns. Jordan needs to settle into a defensive home and cut down his chase rate, and Báez needs to continue improving his swing-and-miss numbers.

Báez has been correcting those swing-and-miss issues lately, striking out just 29 percent of the time in May, down from 37 percent in April, while going on a home run tear with 10 big flies in May. He has struck out just once in his first 10 plate appearances in June, and if he continues to show progress with his hit tool, he may force the Cardinals' hand, as Crooks did.

Still, the Cardinals have the benefit of time on their side, allowing them to be patient with their prized prospects. They aren’t going to skip steps on the development journey for the sake of an instant upgrade at the big league level.

Unlike in years past, the Cardinals continue to preach that the big picture is central to their decision-making. When it comes to promoting a top prospect, the question is not simply whether he can help the Major League roster immediately. The front office and player development staffs weigh the player’s development first while considering the Major League roster and walking that line with the coaching staff.

Bloom discussed how manager Oliver Marmol has been “an amazing partner” in holding the standard high today while keeping the future front and center.

“We have to think of this as a longer-term thing,” Bloom said. “But that doesn’t mean we don’t want to beat you tonight. That doesn’t mean we’re not walking in the building working to win and expecting to win tonight. And as much as possible, how can we have those things work in harmony?”

That harmony is the name of the game this year, but when push comes to shove, the bigger picture will win out in the Cardinals' decision-making.