Young Cardinals Slugger Took Full Advantage Of Opportunities In 2025

The Cardinals presented young players with opportunities in 2025.

Sep 19, 2025; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Alec Burleson (41) scores against the Milwaukee Brewers during the fifth inning at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-Imagn Images | Jeff Curry-Imagn Images

The St. Louis Cardinals are close to being eliminated from postseason contention. Mathematically, they are still alive at four games back in the National League Wild Card race, but only six games remain on the regular season schedule. At the start of the year, the Cardinals had preached runway for younger players, or in other words, giving young players opportunities to prove themselves.

Some Cardinals ran with their opportunities and have played their way into the team's 2026 plans. One of those players is outfielder and first baseman Alec Burleson.

Thomas Gauvain of Redbird Rants listed the young slugger as a player who has taken full advantage of the runway granted to him.

Cardinals' Alec Burleson Took Advantage Of 2025 Opportunities

Sep 17, 2025; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Alec Burleson (41) is congratulated at home plate by St. Louis Cardinals third baseman Nolan Arenado (28) after he hit a home run against the Cincinnati Reds in the first inning at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Tim Vizer-Imagn Images | Tim Vizer-Imagn Images

"There may not be a player on the roster who took advantage of the runway opportunity more than Alec Burleson. In just one season, he went from potentially not starting on Opening Day in spring training to being deemed an everyday player by his manager. That's not a small accomplishment.," Gauvain wrote.

"He's improved his chase rate, whiff rate, walk rate, and barrel rate this year to tap into more power, and it's showing. His slugging percentage alone has risen .046 points from last year.

Burleson has also improved his splits against left-handed pitchers. He slashed .195/.229/.286 last year against southpaws, but he's slashing .273/.302/.400 this year. "

The 26-year-old slugger is hitting .289/.343/.463 with 18 home runs, 66 RBI, a 2.0 WAR and an .806 OPS. It took a little while for him to find his power again, but once he did, he became a pillar in the St. Louis lineup.

He had impressed the Cardinals in 2024, but had a chance to take full advantage of an opportunity to cement himself as an everyday player in 2025. Burleson did just that and now finds himself in their plans for 2026 and beyond.

Despite the coming rebuild, the Cardinals will likely hold onto Burleson this offseason and leave him as a piece that they can build around in the future. He has become a pillar in the heart of the Cardinals lineup, and it simply does not make sense to pull the plug on him after all the progress he has shown at the plate and in the field.

It will be interesting to see what 2026 holds for Burleson.

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