NEW YORK — had heard it plenty of times from several members of the Cardinals coaching staff. The left-handed slugger with elite bat-to-ball skills and above average power has been told many times and in many ways that his ability to consistently put the bat on the ball and put the ball in play is a double-edged sword.
Burleson has even recited a version of that same spiel to reporters at times last spring training, last season and this year in spring training. He knows he’s got an extraordinary ability that can work against him at times if he’s not very particular about making it work in his favor.
Yet somehow when  — a left-handed hitter who has three All-Star selections a Silver Slugger and 175 career home runs on his resume — expressed a similar message during a recent dinner, it struck a chord that hadn’t quite been plucked with Burleson.
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“It kind of hits home a little bit more,†Burleson said after his three-run home run provided the bulk of the offense in the Cardinals 4-2 series-opening win over the New York Mets on Friday night at Citi Field.
The Cardinals (12-14) scored all four of their runs via home runs thanks to Burleson’s three-run blast and a solo home run mashed with a rare combination of ferocity and exit velocity by Willson Contreras.
Those two home runs and a strong pitching performance led by allowed the Cardinals to grab a win on a night when they had just five hits, including three singles.
Burleson, drafted in the second round of the 2020 MLB Draft, has a knack for swinging and not missing. His strikeout rate last season (13.0%) ranked among the top 5 percent of all major league hitters. His whiff rate ranked among the top 10 percent in the majors.
That places a premium on him being picky about when he swings. He can put a lot of balls in play, but not all of those will be put in play with a high likelihood of success. After all, a weak groundball is also a ball in play.
While Burleson avoided specifics of his conversation with Carpenter, the sentiment conveyed included Burleson being sure to put his hand-eye coordination to use strategically.
“That should make me more selective,†Burleson said. “That should make me shrink the zone even more than some guys may be able to do because once they get to two strikes, I can put the ball in play and I can still drive the ball.â€
So far this season, Burleson selectivity had become a secondary theme to his bad luck. He came into the day batting .255 with a slugging percentage of .294.
His expected batting average is .325 with an expected slugging percentage of .460. Those metrics are based on the quality of contact he has made, and his expected batting average ranked among the top 4% of the majors.
Mets starting pitcher José Buttó came into the game having allowed as many runs (three) as he’d made starts (three) this season. He’d entered the day with a 1.65 ERA and 21 strikeouts in 16 1/3 innings.
After Mikolas got Mets slugger and to hit into an inning-ending double play to keep the game scoreless after one inning, Burleson delivered a crucial blow against the Mets’ right-hander in the second inning.
Buttó hit Nolan Arenado with a pitch and walked Paul Goldschmidt to start the second inning, then he left a 1-1 changeup over the inner half of the plate to Burleson.
Burlson mashed Buttó’s changeup 412 feet to right field and gave the Cardinals a 3-0 advantage with one swing.
“Really, all four of my at-bats today I was looking in a zone — trying to do damage in one zone,†Burleson said. “It worked out for me there. I know I struck out twice today, but I feel like I got one pitch to hit and I didn’t miss it today.
"So I wasn’t really sitting on anything. I was just on time and ready to go in a zone and I was fortunate not to miss it when he threw it in the zone.â€
Entering the day, left-handed batters had just three hits in 23 at-bats against Buttó this season. He also hadn’t allowed a home run to any hitter this season.
“That’s an example of him looking to damage early,†Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said. “Because he does a really nice job of putting the ball with two strikes. So taking your shots early is important, and that was a good one. Three-run homers play.â€
Contreras added a run on a monstrous home run in the third inning when he ambushed a first-pitch fastball and smoked it an estimated 445 feet away into the second deck of the ballpark.
Those four runs were enough for Mikolas, the Cardinals defense and the stingy bullpen corps.
Mikolas, who has not walked a batter in two consecutive starts, allowed two runs on seven hits in 5 2/3 innings. He struck out five, and he improved to 44-4 when the Cardinals give him three runs or more of run support.
“We played incredible defense the whole game,†Mikolas said. “Willie was great back there. Big homer from Burley. It’s nice getting out of jam in the first and having the offense really come through right there. That’s really nice, it kind of puts a pitcher at ease. I’m happy with today."
Mikolas stranded men on base in each of the first three innings. He gave up a solo home run in the fifth inning to backup catcher Tomás Nido for the Mets’ first run of the game.
In the sixth, Francisco Lindor doubled and scored on a J.D. Martinez RBI double to pull the Mets within two runs.
Martinez, a six-time All-Star, joined the Mets’ lineup for the first time this season after he signed late in spring training as a free agent.
“He made pitches when he needed to,†Marmol said of Mikolas. “The leadoff guy got on the first three innings, and he was able to keep him from scoring. The groundball double play was big. Punching out (Starling) Marte there (in the third inning) with a runner on third and less than two (outs) was a big pitch.
"Yeah, he made pitches today. They barreled some balls right at people, but he was able to get his outs when he needed it.â€
Coming off of a day off Thursday, the Cardinals benefited from a rested bullpen. Marmol turned to left-hander JoJo Romero at the end of the sixth inning. Romero struck out left-handed hitting Jeff McNeil, a former batting champion, to end the inning.
Romero pitched a scoreless seventh as he and right-hander Andrew Kittredge bridged the gap from the end of Mikolas’ outing to closer Ryan Helsley in the ninth inning.
Romero and Kittredge came into the night tied for the major-league lead with eight holds apiece. With a scoreless eighth inning, Kittredge lowered his ERA to 0.82 this season.
Helsley tossed a scoreless ninth with two strikeouts for his eighth save of the season in nine chances.