Fellow Cardinal deems Alec Burleson overqualified for Pretty Good club

The St. Louis Cardinals enter September just hoping to stay healthy and get some clarity on the roster for next year. After putting together an exciting year and teasing the playoffs, the Cardinals are now putting some of their prospects through a rehearsal period. While the youngsters look to secure a spot for the future, first baseman Alec Burleson has done everything this season to prove he is worth keeping around.

As the late-season injuries have mounted, Burleson has stayed consistent for the entire season and just cracked the 100 RBI mark on the year. In doing so, he became the first Cardinal to hit that number since Goldschmidt and Arenado did it in 2022 and is the first lefty to do so since Jim Edmonds in 2004. After winning the Silver Slugger last year, Burly is in contention for the award again as a first baseman even if his power lags behind the competition. Hardware or no, Burleson has become a mainstay in the Cardinals lineup and looks to be a force for years to come, potentially playing well enough to garner some votes for Cooperstown.

Assuming the call to the Hall of Fame does not come from Burly, a well-known social media account, The Hall of Pretty Good, took notice of the slugger's performance to this point in his career. To teammate Hunter Dobbins, however, Burleson is going to play his way out of eligibility for the HOPG and may just fall in purgatory between the two enshrinements.

Cardinals first baseman Alec Burleson's career is on a pretty good trajectory

Each season of Alec Burleson's career has gotten increasingly better, and the 2026 campaign is no different. After putting up his best batting average last season, Burly has now set new career highs in doubles, runs, and RBI and is one home run away from his new best. He is doing so while walking more and keeping his strikeouts well below league average. Beyond the bat, Burleson's work at first base has been stellar, and Statcast has finally found a way to put value on his worth at the cold corner.

Even though he is still a severely underrated defender, Burleson has put up a total of a 5.5 bWAR, Baseball-Reference's player value measure. This season has easily been his best so far and has accounted for more than half of his career number as he reaches the end of his fourth full season in the majors. The lefty will begin next season as the oldest everyday player on the roster at just 28 years old, meaning he has plenty of time to keep adding to those career stats.

In order to be eligible for the Hall of Pretty Good, an account made to honor those names we remember without the accolades, a player must not have won an MVP award, must be retired for at least three seasons, and must put up a bWAR of 38.6 or lower. Once those criteria are met, the player is then put into a fan vote and must receive at least 65% of the vote to be enshrined into the Hall. According to Dobbins, Burleson may end up surpassing one or two of those restrictions by the time his career is over.

If Burleson were to play eight more seasons through his age-35 season, he would have to accrue less than 34 bWAR and not win an MVP award. At the current rate Burleson has been moving, however, an average about four bWAR per season might be a possibility, especially if he plays until he approaches 40 years old. If that ends up being the case, Burleson would have to hope for writers to fight for him to be put into Cooperstown rather than the social media Hall of Pretty Good.

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