The St. Louis Cardinals want left-handed slugger Alec Burleson to continue to be an everyday player who doesn’t get replaced against left-handed pitching.
This plan benefits the Cardinals only if Burleson produces against left-handers. He got a significant hit off a lefty on Sunday — a go-ahead, three-run double in the sixth inning — to help the Cardinals beat the Chicago White Sox 3-1 and finish a series victory.
Ahead of his team’s next series, which will start Monday night against the visiting San Francisco Giants, Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said Burleson is in a much better place now against southpaws than he was earlier in the season.
“He’s the type of player that should be able to play every day, regardless of who’s on the bump,” Marmol said.
Burleson, 27, has become a top hitter — mostly because of his performance against righties. A Silver Slugger winner a season ago, Burleson has a .283 batting average with 22 home runs and a majors-best 109 RBIs in 149 games out of a possible 150.
But he came into action Sunday batting .210 with a .298 slugging percentage against lefties, not far from his career averages. He played well against lefties a season ago, hitting .271, and performed very well against them (.325) in 126 at-bats at Triple-A in 2022.
Most major leaguers with a track record of hitting poorly against lefties find it hard to improve substantively, but that isn’t necessarily the case with Burleson, Marmol insists.
“He’s got that skill set,” the manager said.
With two strikes against lefty Chris Murphy on Sunday, Burleson fought off a four-seam fastball on his hands, pulling it down the line in right. Burleson took a full swing on a difficult inside pitch and directed it fair beyond the infield.
“You know he’s going to come right at you,” Burleson said. “I was fortunate to put a good swing on it.”
Marmol mentioned a conversation he had with Burleson weeks ago about keeping him in against lefties. Burleson’s results against southpaws were dragging at the time, but they’ve been better since the talk. Burleson has worked hard on the process, Marmol said.
“If you look at the at-bats from that point to now, he’s taken much better ones on left-handers,” Marmol said. “He’s made it a point to work on it.”
In a rematch of a series played a week ago at San Francisco, Burleson and the Cardinals will aim to avenge a three-game sweep. They will face right-hander Landen Roupp (9-13, 4.00 ERA) in the opener.
Roupp picked up the victory Tuesday against the Cardinals, allowing two hits and four walks to go with two strikeouts over six scoreless innings in a 2-1 outcome. He has allowed two earned runs combined over his past three starts.
Barely hanging on in the National League wild-card chase, the Cardinals (74-76) will start rookie left-hander Quinn Mathews (1-3, 4.11 ERA) in the opener. Opposing Roupp on Tuesday, Mathews allowed two runs over six innings.
The Giants (62-88) will visit St. Louis after being swept at home by the San Diego Padres. The Giants won’t have Rafael Devers in the lineup for the rest of the season after placing him on the 60-day injured list because of a core muscle injury.
San Francisco manager Tony Vitello told reporters that surgery, similar to the one performed on third baseman Matt Chapman in August, could happen as soon as Tuesday.
“I think it’s something that’s bothered him for a few years now, and something that was a mystery to him,” Vitello said. “To have relief, I think, is big.”
–Field Level Media
