Pedro Pagés a late scratch with stomach illness

Ivan Herrera is the Cardinals’ most sought-after catcher, but the team, understandably, loves his bat, so their asking price is very high. With many other teams concerned that Herrera is not a good enough defender to remain a catcher, there doesn’t seem to be a match between what the Cardinals want and what other teams will pay. The Cardinals also love having Pedro Pagés as a backup catcher, so the left-handed hitting Crooks, who is just 25 years old and won’t be eligible for arbitration until 2029, could be used to entice teams like the Yankees, Red Sox, or Rays, among others, who are looking for another catching option.

As dynasty managers are aware, St. Louis has one of the most exciting offensive catching prospects in the game looming in the upper minors with Rainiel Rodriguez. That could make either Herrera or Páges viable trade options ahead of next week’s deadline. It doesn’t sound like anything is imminent, but there’s an opportunity for the Cardinals to move one of their veteran backstops with so many contending clubs searching for catching help.

Home-field advantage. In the top of the eighth, Michael Harris II hit a flyball to right that would have been a homer in 26 ballparks, only to see it caught by Jordan Walker. In the bottom of the inning, Crooks sent one to right-center that was a homer in 24 ballparks, and in this case, Busch was one of them. In the top of the ninth, Drake Baldwin hit a ball to center that was a homer in 12 ballparks, but again, it was an out in St. Louis. Crooks’ homer was his second in 66 plate appearances since being called up. Having fallen back behind Pedro Pages on the depth start, Crooks has started just one of the last nine games, leaving his roster spot in doubt heading into the second half.

Sending Crooks out to face Jacob Misiorowski for his first at-bats in five days wasn’t exactly fair, but that’s part of what hitting .164 gets you. Crooks was supposed to be the Cardinals’ most frequent starter behind the plate after he was added to the roster at the end of May, but the start today was just his fourth in the last 14 games. If he’s not going to play any more than this, the Cardinals might return him to Triple-A and bring back Yohel Pozo as a third catching option.

With left-hander Noah Cameron toeing the slab for the Royals, Nootbaar will get a breather. Fellow left-handed hitters Jimmy Crooks and Nathan Church are also out of the Cardinals’ lineup on Thursday. Nelson Velazquez will start in Nootbaar’s place in left field and will bat cleanup for the Cardinals on Thursday night in Kansas City.

Crooks got the start behind the plate in this one and put St. Louis ahead for good with a fourth-inning double into the left-center field gap. It wound up being more than enough run support for Cardinals starter Dustin May, who went the distance for his first career shutout.

Crooks’ homer was 97.5 mph off the bat and went a projected 374 feet. He later hit a ball 103.9 mph and 402 feet off A.J. Minter, but that was just a flyout. Crooks did have one homer in 46 plate appearances as a major leaguer last season, so today’s was the second of his career. He’s started six of the Cardinals’ 12 games and gone 4-for-22 since being called up two weeks ago.

Crooks got into 15 games for the Cardinals last season and finally got another call up to the big leagues earlier this week after hitting .262/.412/.567 with 13 homers in 39 games for Triple-A Memphis. The 24-year-old offers enough offensive upside that he’s worth monitoring in deeper mixed leagues. He’s unlikely to wrestle enough starts away from Iván Herrera to make a significant impact.

He’ll take Yohel Pozo’s roster spot, and given how little hitting Pedro Pages is doing, it’s possible Crooks could take a large role with the Cardinals over the last four months of the season. Crooks was hitting .262/.412/.567 at Triple-A Memphis with 13 homers.

Pagés wound up missing only one game after leaving Saturday’s showdown against the Mariners with left hamstring tightness. The 27-year-old is back handling the catching duties and hitting ninth on Monday evening against Pittsburgh.