MLB · Biography
Jimmy Crooks
Catcher · St. Louis Cardinals · MLB · active · OU 2021-2022
Texas catcher whose CWS power led him to the Cardinals
Jimmy Crooks is from Euless, Texas, and caught at Trinity High School. He spent the shortened 2020 season at McLennan Community College, hitting .319, then transferred to Oklahoma.
In 2021 he hit .287 with 10 home runs for the Sooners and spent the summer with the Wareham Gatemen in the Cape Cod League. In 2022 he played in all 69 games, hitting .305 with nine home runs, 51 RBIs and a .430 on-base percentage. He was at his best in the postseason: a three-run homer in the Big 12 Championship win over Texas, and two more three-run homers against Texas A&M in the College World Series as OU reached the CWS Finals.
The St. Louis Cardinals drafted him in the fourth round (127th overall) in 2022. He hit .321 at Double-A Springfield in 2024 and made his major league debut on August 29, 2025, at Cincinnati. In his first big league start two days later, his first hit was a home run.
In 2026 he hit .300 with 15 home runs in 52 games at Triple-A Memphis and played 52 games for St. Louis, hitting .179 with five homers. The Cardinals sent him back to Memphis on August 31, he hit well in September and in Memphis' International League playoff run, and St. Louis recalled him on September 28. As of October 9, 2026, he is a catcher in the Cardinals organization.