CINCINNATI -- Perhaps Brad Pitt is to blame for the misconception, but a new Statcast metric aims to more accurately portray the defensive rigors faced by MLB first basemen -- and Alec Burleson seems to be a fan.
“It just kind of gives you a better view, that first base isn’t that easy,” Burleson said. “It’s not as easy as people say it is.”
Whether it was acknowledged within the publicly available numbers, it's been treated as a statement of fact within the Cardinals' clubhouse: Burleson is one of the best defensive first basemen around.
But the most crucial aspect of what the Cards have insisted makes him great wasn't measured by any noteworthy public statistics.
Until now.
Late Tuesday night, Statcast dropped a new metric, Receiving Outs Above Average, which measures the specific aspect of Burleson's game that was an apparent blind spot for externally available data on first-base defense.
Burleson's ability to catch the baseball.
In Statcast’s newly minted First Base Receiving leaderboard, Burleson leads MLB this season with a plus-7 in Receiving OAA.
Previous stats didn’t consider it -- and in the defensive data that did exist, Burleson didn’t rate.
In Outs Above Average, Burleson is a minus-3 (28th out of 39 qualifying first basemen). Statcast’s Fielding Run Value leaderboard was similarly unkind toward his contributions: Burleson ranks tied for 67th out of 84 qualifying first basemen in non-receiving Fielding Run Value.
But now that the Fielding Run Value leaderboard incorporates the value of Burleson's most polished defensive skill, he vaults up to tied for ninth on the all-encompassing leaderboard.
That math tracks for Burleson, who views receiving throws as a hefty portion of the first-base gig.
“Ninety percent of my job is to catch the baseball,” Burleson said. “You get, basically, rated as a first baseman on the other 10%, which is just ground balls. ... You don’t get the credit for picking baseballs or your footwork around the base. So, it’s good to be recognized for that, just to see where you stack up against the rest of the league.”
Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol has long been president of the Alec Burleson fan club, recognizing early the path that could be unlocked for the 2020 second-round Draft pick out of East Carolina University if the club stayed the course and poured into his potential.
“I’ve talked about Burly and what he brings for a very long time,” Marmol said. “And I remember his first year when some of the actuals didn’t match the underlying stuff that we were looking at. And it was all pointing in a very, very good direction. I’m glad we were convicted in continuing to give it time to become what it’s become.”
Burleson is the reigning National League Silver Slugger Award winner as a utility man after appearing in 74 games as an outfielder and another 50 at first base last season.
Over his first four MLB campaigns, Burleson roamed the grass out of necessity. To get his bat into the lineup, the roster dictated it, so Burleson did it, and put in the work to become serviceable.
But outfield was never Burleson's destiny. An offseason trade of Willson Contreras opened the door for Burleson to return to his natural position.
His defense in 2026 has shined as a result, whether the numbers reflected it or not.
“He’s really good over there,” Marmol said. “You can create as many metrics as you’d like. They’ll all tell you he does a really nice job. Guys like throwing across the diamond to him.”
After playing third base sporadically in Triple-A Memphis this season, Blaze Jordan has been grappling with the challenges of the hot corner at the big league level, learning on the fly since his midseason promotion.
Having a human scoop shovel at first has made the transition more comfortable for the rookie infielder.
“It’s nice to know, you just kind of throw it in the vicinity over there, he’s going to catch it," Jordan said. “It makes our job a lot easier and it’s just really great to have him over there.”
Before Receiving OAA, recognition for Burleson’s defense was reserved to a less analytically inclined statistic, but still an important one: thank-yous from infielders for turning inaccurate throws into outs.
“Before, it was thank-yous. Now, we have it on paper and the thank-you turns into an Out Above Average or whatever it is,” Burleson joked. “But yeah, it’s definitely cool. I don’t know how I can manipulate that stat to make it any better, but I’ll be trying to do that.”