A former junior-college transfer, Crooks spent two seasons at the University of Oklahoma and helped the Sooners reach the 2022 Men's College World Series Finals in his Draft year. The Cardinals selected him in the fourth round that summer and he became a Midwest League end-of-season All-Star after his first full campaign in 2023. Even with that accolade, Crooks enjoyed his biggest breakout yet last season when he was named Texas League MVP after slashing .321/.410/.498 with 11 homers in 90 games. His 156 wRC+ was fourth-best among 125 catchers with at least 300 plate appearances in the Minors.
A left-handed hitter, Crooks has a wide stance that takes up nearly the entire batter’s box. With his hands held out a little below his shoulders, he can look like he’s rocking back and forth before swinging his lead leg over to generate momentum. He simply doesn’t miss many fastballs, often meeting the ball on a line and shooting it back from whence it came. His overall impact numbers were solid for the Texas League, and his ability to drive hard liners around the diamond will help his power. A flatter swing has led to some issues with breaking stuff that drags down the offensive profile a bit.
Crooks has shown consistent gains with framing and receiving since his college days. He looks like he'll be at least above-average defender in the end, and he gives baserunners plenty to think about with an efficient throwing motion behind the plate. The Cardinals may still be searching for a long-term catcher with Willson Contreras’ move to first, and as a glove-first backstop who can provide left-handed pop, Crooks could be a viable option soon.
A junior-college transfer, Crooks showed impressive defensive improvements over his two seasons at Oklahoma, enough to vault him to MLB Pipeline’s No. 151 prospect ranking in the 2022 Draft class. After helping the Sooners reach the College World Series finals, he went to the Cardinals in the fourth round and signed for exact slot at $470,300. Crooks slashed .271/.358/.433 with 12 homers over 114 games for High-A Peoria during his first full season and ended the campaign with a one-game cameo at Triple-A Memphis and a more extended stay in the Arizona Fall League, where fatigue might have set in.
Looking like an old-school, rough-handed backstop in the box with no batting gloves, the left-handed slugger has a discerning eye at the plate and has continued to feast on right-handed pitching in a breakout 2024 at Double-A Springfield. His production drops pretty precipitously against fellow lefties, however. He relies on strength more than bat speed to generate average raw power, but he's shown the ability to reach at least double-digit homers over a full season.
Crooks’ best work continues to be behind the plate as he carried his defensive gains into pro ball as a solid receiver and blocker behind the dish. He’s become a favorite to throw to among Cardinals pitchers. The former Sooner has the pure arm strength and improved throwing mechanics to give runners pause, adding another above-average skill to his defensive bag. Crooks just needs to continue his current path of development to meet his floor as a solid all-around backup catcher.
Crooks was more known for being a bat-first backstop coming from the Texas high school ranks and in his brief stint at McLennan CC (Texas). Upon transferring to Oklahoma ahead of the 2021 season, his reputation started to change. Even though he was a solid offensive performer in Division I (hitting .297 with a .913 OPS over 123 games in two seasons), his glovework caught up and perhaps exceeded the status of his bat. The Cardinals grabbed Crooks in the fourth round last July and signed him for exact slot at $470,300. The former Sooners star transitioned well to Single-A Palm Beach, slashing .266/.396/.468 over 23 games in the Florida State League.
Crooks’ receiving skills and footwork were major points of emphasis, and scouts took notice of how well he’d improved at framing and blocking during his days in Norman. He’d also bettered his throwing mechanics, work that helped him throw out 30.8 percent of attempted base stealers in his first taste of the pros. Cardinals officials are quick to mention how much their pitchers like throwing with Crooks behind the plate, hammering home his above-average defensive potential.
That isn’t to say Crooks’ value is entirely wrapped up in his glove either. He maxed out at a 109.5 mph exit velocity and had a hard-hit rate of 39.7 percent in the FSL. (The average hard-hit rate for Major League catchers in 2022 was 36.9.) That’ll be challenged against more advanced arms, but the raw power and ability to find the barrel is in there -- a promising sign for a player who faced questions about how he’d handle wood bats out of the Draft. Crooks’ ceiling may not be immense, but the floor as a dependable, all-around backup is solid.
Crooks was known more for his bat than his catching prowess as a Texas high schooler and during his pandemic-shortened 2020 season at McLennan (Texas) CC. That reputation persisted last year after he transferred to Oklahoma, but it started to change during his second season with the Sooners. He improved behind the plate while his power regressed for much of the spring before he homered four times in 12 NCAA tournament games en route to the College World Series finals. St. Louis grabbed the backstop in the fourth round a few weeks later.
Scouts love Crooks' grinder makeup, and he has worked hard to improve his receiving skills and footwork. He has gotten better at framing and blocking pitches, and he's getting more out of his solid arm strength after upgrading his throwing mechanics. He has answered questions about his ability to remain at catcher by becoming an average-to-solid defender.
A left-handed hitter whose strength stands out more than his bat speed, Crooks is vulnerable to breaking pitches but makes decent contact and draws a fair amount of walks. After homering 10 times in his first year at Oklahoma, he showed little pop with wood bats in the Cape Cod League and didn't drive the ball with any consistency in 2022 until the end of the season. A well-below-average runner out of the batter's box, he's quicker once he gets going and shows some savvy on the bases.
Crooks was known more for his bat than his catching prowess as a Texas high schooler and during his pandemic-shortened 2020 season at McLennan (Texas) CC. That reputation persisted last year after he transferred to Oklahoma, but it's starting to change during his second season with the Sooners. He improved behind the plate while his power regressed for much of the spring before he homered four times in 12 NCAA tournament games en route to the College World Series finals.
Scouts love Crooks' grinder makeup and he has worked hard to improve his receiving skills and footwork. He has gotten better at framing and blocking pitches, and he's getting more out of his solid arm strength after upgrading his throwing mechanics. He has answered questions about his ability to remain at catcher by becoming an average to solid defender.
A left-handed hitter whose strength stands out more than his bat speed, Crooks is vulnerable to breaking pitches but makes decent contact and draws a fair amount of walks. After homering 10 times in his first year at Oklahoma, he showed little pop with wood bats in the Cape Cod League and didn't drive the ball with any consistency in 2022 until the end of the season. A well below-average runner out of the batter's box, he's quicker once he gets going and shows some savvy on the bases.
These run values are leveraged, meaning the base/out situation at the time of the event does impact the run value (thus introducing context outside the batter's own contribution).
Note: xHR tells how many of this player's batted balls would have been out of other stadiums. The "Adjusted" view here accounts for different wall heights, distances and environmental effects using Statcast Park Factor data.
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Note: xHR tells how many of this player's batted balls would have been out of other stadiums. The "Standard" view here accounts for different wall heights and distances but excludes environmental effects. It is based purely on the observed trajectory of the hit.
! Note: Shifts are through the 2022 season, Shaded starting from the 2023 season, Shift: three or more infielders are on the same side of second base, Shade: positioned outside of their typical responsible slices of the field. Learn more about how positioning is defined here
