WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — With each swing taken at the plate this spring by Cardinals outfielder/first baseman Alec Burleson and first baseman/designated hitter Luken Baker, it’s as if they’re taking hacks with a sledgehammer at the roadblocks in the way of the their big-league hopes and aspirations.
The roadblock is just metaphorical, but the sluggers certainly face very really obstructions keeping them from earning regular playing time in the big leagues.
They’ve each performed at a very high caliber in the minors, and their prowess earned them the chance to play in the majors — no small feat. However, they haven’t gotten the consistent playing time necessary to prove they can succeed at the highest level.
With the addition of veteran position players such as infielder/designated hitter Matt Carpenter and shortstop Brandon Crawford (both signed major-league contracts), the roster crunch seems sure to impede Burleson and Baker yet again.
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Burleson and Baker — who batted third and fourth, respectively, in the Cardinals lineup Saturday for a 7-1 loss to the Houston Astros in an exhibition game at the CACTI Park of the Palm Beaches — essentially are in major-league camp competing for jobs that might not be open until and unless something goes awry, or someone gets injured.
“I’m just going to continue to do what I do,†Burleson said. “I’m going to continue to hit like I’ve always hit my whole life. I’m going to be the clubhouse guy. Be a good teammate. I’m going to play ball like I know how to play ball. Then the rest is out of my control.
“I can’t control what the team does. Whatever they do, I’ll accept it and move on from that. But like I said, I’m just going to do what I do. I’m just going to keep playing the game and hitting the ball like I know how to hit the ball.â€
The left-handed hitting Burleson, 25, blended power and the ability to make consistent contact at an elite level in the minors. A compensation round draft pick in 2020 (70th overall), he pushed his way to the majors in just 228 minor-league games. During his time in the minors, Burleson averaged one homer run every 22.6 plate appearances and registered a batting average of .300 .
In 2022, Burleson won the International League batting title while playing for Triple A Memphis. He batted .331 with a .372 on-base percentage and a .532 slugging percentage. He also smashed 20 home runs. Burleson spent last season in the majors and appeared in 107 games (80 starts). He slashed .244/.300/.390 in his first full season in the majors, primarily in a bench role.
This offseason, Burleson lost 13 pounds and worked to improve his mobility and outfield defense, an area in which the coaching staff felt he needed to make strides in order to play regularly.
“We obviously like what ‘Burly’ does in the (batter’s) box,†Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said. “We think there’s upside there. I don’t think we’ve seen the best version of Burleson from a luck standpoint and at the end of the day he hits the ball hard. He knows what he’s doing. He takes a professional at-bat.
“He has worked really hard at shoring up the defense because that’s going allow us to use him more or not. He knew the importance of that going into the offseason. He’s done a nice job of trying to trim up and be a little bit lighter on his feet.â€
The mid-January signing of Carpenter, a former All-Star with the Cardinals who provides a veteran left-handed bat off the bench, meant Burleson’s place on the roster was tenuous at best coming into spring training. He entered camp embracing Carpenter’s addition and the competition it signaled. At the onset of exhibition games, Burleson said he’d picked Carpenter’s brain and referred to him as “great guy†with a lot of knowledge and experience who is fun to be around.
“He’s going to help this team out,†Burleson said. “No doubt about it. He’s been here before, but I also want to be a big contributor to this team too.â€
Numbers game
Assuming the Cardinals use 13 position players on their roster to start the season, that leaves just four bench slots if you pencil Nolan Gorman and Brendan Donovan into the everyday lineup. Backup catcher Ivan Herrera fills one of those spots, Dylan Carlson will be the fourth outfielder and Carpenter is the left-handed batter off the bench. Crawford’s addition gives the Cardinals protection at shortstop, but also takes up another roster spot.
Last week following Crawford’s signing, Cardinals president of baseball operations John Mozeliak deflected a question about not having room for Burleson, who spent all of last season in the majors, on the roster. Mozeliak cited the early stage of camp and the calendar as he characterized the questions as “almost nonsensical.â€
“So many things can happen,†Mozeliak said. “Trying to predict what that looks like a month from now is not healthy. I understand the math. Everybody does, but things happen. The most important thing we’re trying to do is just build enough depth so that if something does happen, we’re prepared to deal with it.â€
Baker, who roped a double off of Houston reliver Rafael Montero in Saturday’s exhibition game, doesn’t have the potential benefit of the positional versatility that Burleson has by playing first base and the outfield. Listed at 6-foot-4 and 285 pounds, Baker exclusively has been a first baseman or designated hitter.
Baker, 26, isn’t oblivious to the fact that he already was boxed out of the roster by the presence of seven-time All-Star, five-time Silver Slugger Award winner and 2022 National Leauge MVP Paul Goldschmidt at first base before the addition of Carpenter.
Asked about how he views the roster crunch, Baker said, “It’s not really anything that I can control, so I try and stay away from it and control what I can control. It’s a pretty cliché answer, but it’s true. There’s only so much you can do. All I can do is go out and prepare to have a great season and let everything fall where it does.â€
Last season, Baker had one of the best offensive seasons of any player in the minors.
The International League MVP, an all-Minor League Baseball first tam selection and Baseball America Minor League All-Star, Baker led all minor-leaguers in slugging percentage (.720) and OPS (1.159). He bashed 33 home runs in 84 games at Triple-A.
Baker played in 33 games for the Cardinals last season over the course of three stints . He slashed .209/.313/.314.
Over the course of his first 17 games in the majors, Baker posted an on-base percentage of .238 with 17 strikeouts and just one walk. In his last 16 games of last season in the majors, his on-base percentage rose to .368 and he walked almost as many times (12) as he struck out (14).
“That was part of my issue at the beginning and why I think I struggled so much,†Baker said. “I was assessing my performance based on the few at-bats I got. I just wanted to do way more than I should have been trying to do.
“As I was up there longer and was in that role more, I learned that just taking good at-bats is what’s going to make it a good day. I took enough good at-bats and ended up turning things around a little bit and playing a little bit better.â€
Making strides
The Cardinals’ coaching staff took notice of how Baker started to transfer the high walk rate and hard-hit rate he had in the minors to his performance in the majors late last season.
Of course, that still leaves Baker in a bit of a netherworld between having done impressive things, particularly offensively, at the Triple-A level and not having a clear path to contributing to the major-league club.
“It’s tough,†Marmol said. “This is a guy that lit up Triple A. Based on where we were, he’s never had a long run of just go play. So it’s difficult to project what he’s capable of doing at the highest level, just based on opportunity. But the skillset, offensively, he has shown the ability to really hit.â€
While Marmol acknowledged Baker has shown everything he needs to show at the Triple-A level, Marmol also pointed out there’s “a lot†that can be gained and learned from time at Triple A. Ultimately, it boils down to the opportunity or lack thereof for Baker in the majors in the Cardinals’ current situation.
“I think Baker has approached in extremely well, offensively, but also finding ways to improve defensively,†Marmol said. “Because that’s an area, if you’re looking to play every day, he’s aware of what that needs to look like and he has worked at it really hard.â€