Crooks to steal catcher AB in St. Louis
May 31 2026
NATIONAL LEAGUE
St. Louis Cardinals
NEWS: C Jimmy Crooks is set to take over primary catching duties in St. Louis.
IMPACT: High
BHQ SPIN: The Cardinals have shaken up their backstop hierarchy, opting for organizational development over mediocre veteran production. Crooks (+35%) will replace Pedro Pagés (-15%) as the primary backstop, forcing the latter into third-catcher duties formerly held by Yohel Pozo (-15%), who was optioned to AAA-Memphis. Pages performed serviceably defensively, but really struggled at the plate, posting a .622 OPS over 125 PA. The club will hope to get a little more production from Crooks; while he struggled last season in his MLB debut (46 PA, .396 OPS), he has been swinging a hot stick (141 AB,...
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