Central STL News

Two players from Triple-A Memphis, catcher Jimmy Crooks and infielder César Prieto, have been promoted to the St. Louis Cardinals for their Major League Baseball debuts. The move comes as reserve catcher Yohel Pozo was placed on the seven-day injured list after suffering a concussion during Thursday’s game against the Pirates, and outfielder Alec Burleson went on the 10-day injured list with right wrist pain.

Crooks, 24, is ranked as the No. 6 prospect in the Cardinals' Minor League system according to MLB Pipeline. He replaces Pozo on the roster and has shown consistent performance this season in Triple-A, batting .274 with a .337 on-base percentage and .441 slugging percentage over 98 games. Crooks has recorded 21 doubles, 14 home runs, and 79 RBIs but also has 114 strikeouts compared to 36 walks. He was named the Cardinals' Minor League Player of the Year in 2024 for his performance at Double-A Springfield before advancing to Memphis.

The Cardinals selected Crooks in the fourth round of the 2022 MLB Draft from the University of Oklahoma. His defensive skills include managing pitchers effectively and controlling base runners; he threw out nearly one-third of attempted base stealers at Springfield last year and continues to perform well defensively at Memphis.

Prieto, age 26, joined St. Louis following an August 2023 trade with Baltimore that involved pitcher Jack Flaherty. Prieto previously made headlines by defecting from Cuba in May 2021 before an Olympic qualifying tournament in Florida. "It was super hard to make that decision [to defect], but at the time I knew it was the right thing to do because I was doing it for something really good in my future," Prieto told MLB.com via translator Kleininger Teran. "I feel lucky to have this opportunity to come to America and play baseball here and I want to make the most of it."

This season at Memphis, Prieto has played multiple positions across second base, third base, and shortstop while hitting .295 with a .359 on-base percentage and .448 slugging percentage over 107 games.

The Cardinals currently do not plan to promote JJ Wetherholt—their top-ranked prospect—despite his strong showing since moving up from Double-A in July.