Jimmy Crooks and Quinn Mathews Named St. Louis Player and Pitcher of the Year

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Jimmy Crooks and Quinn Mathews Named St. Louis Player and Pitcher of the Year

October 14, 2024 - Texas League (TL)
Springfield Cardinals News Release


SPRINGFIELD, MO - The St. Louis Cardinals have announced that Springfield Cardinals C Jimmy Crooks and LHP Quinn Mathews have won the organization's annual Minor League Player and Pitcher of the Year awards, respectively. Crooks becomes the eleventh Springfield Cardinal to win the Player of the Year award while Mathews is the fifteenth Springfield Pitcher to win. This also marks three consecutive seasons in which the Pitcher of the Year award went to a Springfield Cardinal.

"We are proud to recognize Quinn Mathews and Jimmy Crooks as our club's Minor League Pitcher and Player of the Year," said John Mozeliak, Cardinals President of Baseball Operations. "Quinn quickly rose through our system in dominating fashion, posting numerous quality starts and impressive strikeout totals along the way, while Jimmy guided Springfield to their winningest season in the franchise's 20-year history. We congratulate them on all their success this season and look forward to continuing their development to become impactful Major League players."

ABOUT C JIMMY CROOKS

Jimmy Crooks hit .321 for Springfield while leading the Texas League with a .498 slugging percentage, both career highs. Behind the plate, the Texas native caught a career-high 33% of would-be base stealers. He was named a Texas League Postseason All-Star and the League's Most Valuable Player. His Texas League MVP award was the sixth in Springfield Cardinals history and the third straight.

Crooks was drafted by St. Louis in the fourth round of the 2022 MLB Draft out of the University of Oklahoma. Crooks played in the 2022 College World Series after beginning his collegiate career in Junior College at McLennan Community College. He is the fifth-ranked prospect and top-catching prospect in the Cardinals system, per MLB Pipeline. He is the third catcher to win the organization's Player of the Year award, joining Iván Herrera (2023) and Carson Kelly (2017).

Here is the full list of Springfield Cardinals to win STL Player of the Year:

Travis Hanson - 2005

Colby Rasmus - 2007

Daryl Jones - 2008

Matt Carpenter - 2010

Matt Adams - 2011

Oscar Taveras - 2012

Carson Kelly - 2016

Dylan Carlson - 2019

Jordan Walker (Co-Player) - 2022

Moisés Gómez (Co-Player) - 2022

Jimmy Crooks - 2024

ABOUT LHP QUINN MATHEWS

Quinn Mathews is the third straight Springfield Cardinal to win St. Louis Minor League Pitcher of the Year. This comes after a remarkable season in which he enjoyed a meteoric rise through the system, pitching across all levels: Single-A Palm Beach (Florida State League), High-A Peoria (Midwest), Double-A Springfield (Texas) and Triple-A Memphis (International). He spent the majority of his dominant 2024 season with Springfield, making nine starts in the Texas League to the tune of a 2.41 ERA and a .186 opponent batting average. Mathews was the second Minor League pitcher to surpass 200 strikeouts in a season since 2011 and the 10th Cardinals MiLB pitcher to do so since 1962.

This latest award is in addition to a myriad of honors he received for 2024 including Texas League Postseason All-Star, Baseball America Minor League Pitcher of the Year, MiLB Pitcher and Debut of the Year and an All MiLB First Team selection.

St. Louis drafted Mathews out of Stanford in the fourth round of the 2023 MLB Draft. He began the year ranked as the 21st-best prospect in the Cardinals system but finished at number three according to MLB Pipeline.

Here is the full list of Springfield Cardinals to win STL Pitcher of the Year:

Blake Hawksworth - 2006

P.J. Walters - 2007

Jess Todd - 2008

Lance Lynn - 2009

Shelby Miller - 2011

Seth Maness - 2012

Zach Petrick - 2013

Marco Gonzales - 2014

Alex Reyes - 2015

Luke Weaver - 2016

Jack Flaherty - 2017

Angel Rondon - 2019

Gordon Graceffo - 2022

Max Rajcic - 2023

Quinn Mathews - 2024

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The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

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