Alec

Burleson

Burleson got the scoring started in the first by driving in JJ Wetherholt, then brought Jordan Walker home with an RBI single in the fourth. He’s up to 96 RBI this season, one behind Sal Stewart for the MLB lead. Walker is also at 96, as the two teammates have been among baseball’s best at driving in runs this year.

It appears to just be a routine day off against tough left-hander Jesús Luzardo. Burleson is hitting .288/.355/.489 in 128 games this year with 21 homers and 93 RBI; he’s been a major reason the Cardinals have overachieved preseason expectations.

Burleson also singled later on. He’s up to 92 RBI, giving him one more than CJ Abrams and Sal Stewart for the major league lead. His 32 doubles lead the majors by two ahead of Rafael Devers, Matt Olson and Bryan Reynolds.

Both Burleson and Jordan Walker homered, picked up three hits and drove in four in the contest. Burleson’s homer was his 21st of the season, and it was a two-run shot off a wholly ineffective Edward Cabrera in the first inning. Burleson has put together a very strong 2026 campaign, and his .288/.355/.494 slash is evidence of that.

Burleson reached on a groundout in the first inning and scored on a home run by Joshua Báez. He then drew a walk to lead off the sixth and scored again before leading off the eighth with a solo homer off Colin Rea. The 27-year-old outfielder is hitting .285/.353/.484 with 20 homers, 68 runs scored, and 86 RBI across 516 plate appearances.

Burleson is the first player to reach 30 doubles this year, breaking a tie with Otto Lopez and Matt Olson at 29. He’s currently tied with teammate Jordan Walker for fourth in the majors with 84 RBI. CJ Abrams is first with 91.

The Cardinals were kept off the scoreboard for the first five innings and trailed 3-0 before Burleson’s two-run single in the sixth inning gave them life. The Cardinals rallied again in the eighth inning with Burleson hitting an RBI double and coming around to score on a Masyn Winn double, though they ultimately come up short in the 6-5 loss. Burleson is hitting .284 with an .831 OPS and 81 RBI.

Burleson was a hot name at today’s MLB trade deadline, but the Cardinals decided to hold onto him, and he rewarded them for their loyalty. This was Burleson’s first career three-home-run game, and he hit each of them off a different Yankees pitcher. Burleson has 18 home runs and 77 RBI this season to go along with a .288/.350/480 slash line.

Burleson being a popular name on the trade market does not mean he’s being traded. The 27-year-old is hitting .284/.347/.458 in 111 games this season with 15 home runs, 71 RBI, and three steals. He is also under team control for two more years after this one, which makes it unlikely that the Cardinals would decide to move on from him unless they were to get a pretty large return. That being said, Burleson has also graded out as a poor defender at every position he’s played, including first base, so the Cardinals may have concerns about the long-term fit of a player who is basically a DH.

The Cardinals had eight of the game’s nine hardest-hit balls today, with Burleson chiming in with a 107.3-mph single, and did outhit the Blue Jays 11-9, but they still lost 5-1. The team just hasn’t been able to homer since Jordan Walker’s binge during the Derby. They have only six in 16 games since, with JJ Wetherholt hitting half of those.