6 Cardinal prospects whose stocks have risen and 4 whose stocks have fallen

Catcher Jimmy Crooks's stock has risen rapidly this year.

At the end of the 2023 season, catcher Jimmy Crooks was ranked as the Cardinals' 16th-best prospect in the system. Just one year later and he's found himself in the organization's top-five prospects with guys like Tink Hence JJ Wetherholt, and Quinn Mathews.

Since the Cardinals drafted him in 2022, Crooks's calling card has been his work behind the plate. He has a plus arm, and pitchers have spoken frequently about their preference to throw to him. He has thrown out 25 runners this year for a 33% caught-stealing rate.

Where Jimmy Crooks has seen growth this year has been on the offensive side of the game. He was always pegged as a slightly below-average hitting prospect, but his defensive abilities at least set a solid floor for him. This year, he's tapped into something that has altered his offensive game. Crooks went from slashing .271/.358/.433 last year to .321/.411/.503 this year. His OPS has risen nearly .125 points, and he's also stolen four bases.

On the surface, Crooks's plate discipline is relatively similar to last year; he's striking out a bit less and walking a bit more, but his BABIP (.386) and wOBA (.416) are much improved. What's the cause for this offensive boost this year? Line drives and opposite field hits.

Crooks is hitting a line drive 31.6% of the time this year, and he's spreading the ball across the diamond much better than he did last year. He's reduced his pull rate while increasing his opposite field rate. This has allowed him to be more consistent in the box. If he can maintain this offensive production while being a steady backstop, the Cardinals have a fantastic catcher of the future in their system.