Jimmy Crooks

Organization Prospect Rankings

• 
  Ranked St. Louis Cardinals #8 prospect in 2026
  BA Grade/Risk: 45/Mild
  
  Adjusted Grade: 40
  
  Track Record: After starting his college career at McLennan Junior College in Texas, Crooks transferred to Oklahoma, where he spent two seasons. The Cardinals drafted him in the fourth round in 2022, and he has moved a level a year since signing. After winning the Texas League MVP in 2024, Crooks spent most of 2025 with Triple-A Memphis. The Cardinals called up Crooks on Aug. 29, and he spent the final month of the season with the team.
  
  Scouting Report: A year after breaking out at the plate, Crooks took a step back in his first full season at Triple-A. He struggled against spin and consistently whiffed on breaking balls in the zone. This in turn shrunk his contact rates and increased his strikeouts. In addition to the swing-and-miss, Crooks’ approach backed up and he chased pitches at a higher rate. He produced similar power numbers in 2025 thanks to improved top-end exit velocities. Crooks’ batted-ball angles are inconsistent and worse than they were in 2024. He still has a fairly high barrel rate, despite an inability to pull the ball in the air consistently. Behind the plate, Crooks is an above-average defender who is an excellent blocker. He does a good job of keeping the ball in front of him and controlling bounces on low pitches. His arm is above-average, allowing him to overcome below-average exchanges. Crooks looks like a sure thing to stick behind the plate and could develop into an above-average defender. His step backward as a hitter in 2025 leads to some questions around his viability as a primary catcher.
  
  The Future: The lefthanded-hitting Crooks ascended to MLB in late 2025 and looks to be a part of the Cardinals’ catching platoon headed into 2026.
  
  Scouting Grades Hit: 45 | Power: 50 | Run: 30 | Field: 55 | Arm: 55.
• 
  Ranked St. Louis Cardinals #9 prospect in 2025
  BA Grade/Risk: 50/High.
  
  Track Record: Crooks went the junior college route, playing a season at McLennan JC in Texas before transferring to Oklahoma. With the Sooners, Crooks enjoyed two successful seasons before the Cardinals drafted him in the fourth round in 2022. He had a strong season in his debut before breaking out in 2024 by hitting 321/.410/.498 in 90 games with Double-A Springfield and winning the Texas League MVP.
  
  Scouting Report: Crooks is a stout, strongly built catcher with solid bat-to-ball skills and a knack for finding the barrel. He features a wide-open setup at the plate and a level swing angle that allows him to attack high fastballs and make strong, quality contact against all middle-up locations. Crooks is an excellent fastball hitter and handles velocity well, but the flatness of his swing leaves him susceptible to spin and offspeed pitches located at the bottom of the zone. He shows average underlying exit velocity data, as evidenced by a 90th percentile EV of 103.9 mph in 2024. While his raw power is just average, his ability to consistently backspin the ball leads to a high rate of line drives and fly balls. Crooks is a well below-average runner who runs the bases station to station. Behind the plate, Crooks is an above-average framer with metrics that support his above-average strike-stealing skills. While his receiving is strong, Crooks doesn’t sacrifice impact in the running game. He caught 33% of basestealers over 76 attempted steals in 2024.
  
  The Future: Crooks is an above-average defensive catcher with ability to hit for average and some power. If he conquers the challenge of Triple-A pitching, he could debut for the Cardinals in 2025. He projects as a second-division regular catcher.
  
  Scouting Grades Hit: 55 | Power: 50 | Run: 30 | Fielding: 55 | Arm: 55
  
  Scouting Grades: Hit: 55 | Power: 50 | Run: 30 | Field: 55 | Arm: 55.
• 
  Ranked St. Louis Cardinals #15 prospect in 2024
  BA Grade: 45/High
  
  Track Record: Crooks began his college career with one season with McLennan (Texas) JC before transferring to Oklahoma. With the Sooners, Crooks handled a bulk of the catching duties for two seasons and hit .297/.409/.504. The Cardinals selected Crooks in the fourth round and he debuted following the draft with Low-A Palm Beach. Crooks was assigned to High-A Peoria to begin 2023 and played 114 games for the Chiefs before a late-season cameo at Triple-A.
  
  Scouting Report: Crooks has a well-rounded profile with potential average skills on both sides of the ball. Crooks is a fringe-average hitter with fringe-average bat-to-ball skills and tendency to get passive at the plate. He shows average raw power, but has not gotten to it consistently, though he does have enough raw power to project for mid-teens home run totals over a full season. Crooks is a well below-average runner who moves from station-to-station when on base. His defensive skills have taken a sizable jump over the last few seasons thanks to improved blocking and receiving that now look like above-average tools. Crooks also cleaned up his mechanics and is now an above-average thrower with a career caught stealing rate near 30%.
  
  The Future: While he lacks loud offensive skills, Crooks provides value as a sum-of-its-parts profile who could carve out a role as a platoon catcher thanks to his above-average defense.
  
  Scouting Grades Hit: 45 | Power: 45 | Run: 30 | Field: 55 | Arm: 55
• 
  Ranked St. Louis Cardinals #22 prospect in 2023
  BA Grade/Risk: 45/High
  
  Track Record: Crooks spent one season at McLennan (Texas) JC before transferring to Oklahoma and started 100 games behind the plate with the Sooners. He hit for average and power to emerge as one of the top catchers in the draft class and was selected by the Cardinals in the fourth round, signing for $470,300. Crooks debuted with Low-A Palm Beach after signing and hit .266/.396/.468 with eight extra base hits in 23 games, continuing to show ability on both sides of the ball.
  
  Scouting Report: Crooks has the typical strong, stout catcher's build and is muscled throughout his frame. He employs a large leg kick to start his swing and has explosive bat speed through the zone with a level bat path. Crooks' noisy swing mechanics may limit him against higher-level pitching, but he should make enough contact to be a fringe-average hitter who taps into his average power in games. He shows a solid approach and is best when he attacks pitches in the inner half and drives them to his pull-side. Crooks is an average defender behind the plate who is comfortable in the crouch. His average arm strength plays up with a quick transfer and release.
  
  The Future: Crooks is a well-rounded player who keeps trending up as a hitter. He projects to be a backup catcher and could be more if his hitting continues to improve.
  
  Scouting Grades: Hit: 45. Power: 50. Run: 30. Field: 50. Arm: 50.

Draft Prospects

• Ranked #260 prospect in 2022 draft
  School: Oklahoma Committed/Drafted: Never Drafted
  Age At Draft: 21
  The lefthanded-hitting backstop has contributed in a big way not just behind the plate but on the offensive side as well for Oklahoma. With a batting average over .300 accompanied with 20 doubles and nine home runs heading into CWS championship play, Crooks is a threat for damage every time he stands in the box. An aggressive swinger, Crooks’ bat path is more pull-oriented with lift involved. There’s plenty of bat speed present to handle velocity and he also has success against breaking pitches, as displayed against Texas A&M in Omaha when he belted two home runs to the pull side. Crooks has a solid, durable frame at 6-foot, 218 pounds. He’s agile behind the plate, making difficult blocks. He backs that up with an average arm, but his quick release assists in his ability to contain an aggressive running game. In a draft not necessarily loaded with catching talent, Crooks could go off the board sooner rather than later.

• February, 2023 Scouting Report
  BA Grade/Risk: 45/High
  
  Track Record: Crooks spent one season at McLennan (Texas) JC before transferring to Oklahoma and started 100 games behind the plate with the Sooners. He hit for average and power to emerge as one of the top catchers in the draft class and was selected by the Cardinals in the fourth round, signing for $470,300. Crooks debuted with Low-A Palm Beach after signing and hit .266/.396/.468 with eight extra base hits in 23 games, continuing to show ability on both sides of the ball.
  
  Scouting Report: Crooks has the typical strong, stout catcher's build and is muscled throughout his frame. He employs a large leg kick to start his swing and has explosive bat speed through the zone with a level bat path. Crooks' noisy swing mechanics may limit him against higher-level pitching, but he should make enough contact to be a fringe-average hitter who taps into his average power in games. He shows a solid approach and is best when he attacks pitches in the inner half and drives them to his pull-side. Crooks is an average defender behind the plate who is comfortable in the crouch. His average arm strength plays up with a quick transfer and release.
  
  The Future: Crooks is a well-rounded player who keeps trending up as a hitter. He projects to be a backup catcher and could be more if his hitting continues to improve.
  
  Scouting Grades: Hit: 45. Power: 50. Run: 30. Field: 50. Arm: 50.
• December, 2022 Scouting Report
  BA Grade/Risk: 45/High
  
  Track Record: Crooks spent one season at McLennan (Texas) JC before transferring to Oklahoma and started 100 games behind the plate with the Sooners. He hit for average and power to emerge as one of the top catchers in the draft class and was selected by the Cardinals in the fourth round, signing for $470,300. Crooks debuted with Low-A Palm Beach after signing and hit .266/.396/.468 with eight extra base hits in 23 games, continuing to show ability on both sides of the ball.
  
  Scouting Report: Crooks has the typical strong, stout catcher's build and is muscled throughout his frame. He employs a large leg kick to start his swing and has explosive bat speed through the zone with a level bat path. Crooks' noisy swing mechanics may limit him against higher-level pitching, but he should make enough contact to be a fringe-average hitter who taps into his average power in games. He shows a solid approach and is best when he attacks pitches in the inner half and drives them to his pull-side. Crooks is an average defender behind the plate who is comfortable in the crouch. His average arm strength plays up with a quick transfer and release.
  
  The Future: Crooks is a well-rounded player who keeps trending up as a hitter. He projects to be a backup catcher and could be more if his hitting continues to improve.
  
  Scouting Grades: Hit: 45. Power: 50. Run: 30. Field: 50. Arm: 50.
• April, 2022 Scouting Report
  BA Grade: 40/High
  
  August Update: The lefthanded-hitting backstop has contributed in a big way not just behind the plate but on the offensive side as well for Oklahoma. With a batting average over .300 accompanied with 20 doubles and nine home runs heading into CWS championship play, Crooks is a threat for damage every time he stands in the box. An aggressive swinger, Crooks’ bat path is more pull-oriented with lift involved. There’s plenty of bat speed present to handle velocity and he also has success against breaking pitches, as displayed against Texas A&M in Omaha when he belted two home runs to the pull side. Crooks has a solid, durable frame at 6-foot, 218 pounds. He’s agile behind the plate, making difficult blocks. He backs that up with an average arm, but his quick release assists in his ability to contain an aggressive running game. Crooks signed for $470,300 in the fourth round.