Springfield's Burleson, Walsh named St. Louis Cardinals Minor League Player, Pitcher of Month

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – The St. Louis Cardinals today announced their Minor League Player and Pitcher of the Month for May as Springfield Cardinals OF Alec Burleson and Springfield Cardinals RHP Jake Walsh.

This is the second Cardinals Minor League Pitcher of the Month award for Walsh, who previously earned the award in August 2018 with High-A Palm Beach.

A rare feat, it marks the sixth time in Springfield Cardinals history that both winners of the award were on the team’s roster, with the most recent instance coming in May 2019 when OF Dylan Carlson and RHP Junior Fernandez earned the honors.

The other months where Springfield had a currently rostered batter and pitcher win the awards in the same month were April 2016 (OF Harrison Bader, RHP Andrew Morales), June 2015 (OF Patrick Wisdom, RHP Arturo Reyes), April 2011 (INF Ryan Jackson, RHP Jordan Swagerty) and May 2009 (C Charlie Cutler, RHP Lance Lynn).

Burleson, the Cardinals 2nd round compensatory pick in 2020 (70th overall), jumped from High-A Peoria to Double-A Springfield on May 17—just 14 days into his first professional season. Burleson reached base in each of his first nine Double-A starts stretching from May 18-29, batting .356 (16x45) with three doubles, three home runs, six runs, 10 RBIs and five walks over that stretch. Over his first 23 career professional games, the former East Carolina Pirate has slashed .319/.388/.593 with four doubles, seven homers, 14 runs, 20 RBI and 11 walks. The 23 year old is currently ranked as the Cardinals #16 prospect by MLB.com.

A weapon out of the bullpen through the first month of 2021, Walsh is 2-1 with a 1.29 ERA over nine relief appearances for Springfield, striking out 19 to just four walks in 14.0 innings. The 25 year old has only allowed runs in two of nine appearances and didn’t allow a single run over seven consecutive appearances spanning 12.0 innings between May 9-27. The Cardinals’ 16th round selection in 2017 (484th overall), Walsh has yet to allow more than one hit in any appearance. Before being used primarily as a starter in 2018 and 2019, Walsh made 16 relief appearances in his first professional season for Rookie-level Johnson City in 2017, finishing 5-0 with a 0.95 ERA over 28.1 innings, striking out 39.