Every year, or at least every year since 2012, we’ve taken some time after the season was over to look at the past 162 games through the lens of the players that played them (and the management that was in charge of them). Last year, the Exit Interview series spent less time digging into splits and finding numerical oddities and more time reflecting on the player and their season. It was a style that seemed to work so we’re going to bring it back again this year. The legendary cardinalsgifs is back to bring us excellent series art, so it’s all downhill after you see that!
Player: Alec Burleson
Stats: 152 G, 595 PA, 71 R, 20 2B, 21 HR, 78 RBI, 9 SB, 4 CS, .269/.314/.420, 1.2 bWAR
Statcast: 6.5% barrel, 34.3% sweet spot, 111.0 max exit velocity, .319 wOBA, .329 xwOBA, 12.8% K, 5.9% BB
Grade: B
Finally, it all came together. The promise of Burleson was that the underlying metrics really liked him and that he just wasn’t seeing them translate to actual results. He was hitting the ball hard, he had a good approach, launch angle was nice, it just wasn’t happening. In 2024, it happened. On August 17, he hit his 21st home run of the season which had him leading the team. He had a .776 OPS and while the glove still wasn’t anything to write home about, he still seemed to be one of the bright lights not only of the season but of the future of the Cardinals. There was even internal fan discussion about him being a Cardinal representative to the All-Star Game and the whole DJ Burly Biscuits meme was one of the fun parts of the season.
How you feel about that future, though, might be related to how much import you put on his last six weeks of the season. In his last 38 games (32 starts), he hit .230/.324/.277. He had no home runs and just five doubles. He still kept his discipline–16 walks versus 18 strikeouts–but the results just weren’t there. It was closer to what we saw last year It’s very reasonable to think that Burleson just hit a wall. He played 107 games in 2023 and, over two levels, 123 in 2022. Playing basically an extra month of games could definitely wear on a young player and that’s probably all it was. There’s a little bit of concern that the league adjusted to him but it seems like even if that’s the case Burleson’s able to adjust to the adjustments.
What’s in store for 2025: Burleson stands to play a large part in 2025. Most likely he’s working on his first base footwork as he will at least be in the mix, if not be the favorite, to take over first base next season. If that doesn’t work or if someone (like Jordan Walker) edges him out, he’ll likely see most of his time at DH with a little time in the outfield. It would not be a shock if Burleson did lead the team in home runs next year even if the team offense as a whole takes a step forward.
