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

SPRINGFIELD, MO (October 14, 2024) - 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