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Following breakout seasons that temporarily overlapped this summer with Class AA Springfield, left-handed pitcher Quinn Mathews and catcher Jimmy Crooks were named Cardinals minor league pitcher and player of the year for 2024, it was announced on Monday.

Mathews, 24, went 8-5 with a 2.76 ERA in 143鈪� innings and struck out a minor league-leading 202 batters across four levels, concluding with time in Class AAA. The latest organizational honor adds another accolade to Mathews鈥� breakout season that also earned him Baseball America鈥檚 minor league pitcher of the year award.

Crooks, 23, batted .321 with a .410 on-base percentage and a .908 on-base plus slugging percentage (OPS) in 90 Class AA games as Springfield鈥檚 primary catcher. The left-handed hitter earned Texas League MVP honors for an effort that aided Springfield (Missouri) to a playoff berth and the winningest season in franchise history.

鈥淲e congratulate them on all their success this season and look forward to continuing their development to become impactful Major League players,鈥� Cardinals president of baseball operations John Mozeliak said of Mathews and Crooks in a news release.

Because of a workload of more than 124 innings in his senior season at Stanford University, Mathews did not pitch in minor league baseball after he was selected in the fourth round of the 2023 MLB draft.

The left-hander opened his first season as a pro as Class Low-A Palm Beach鈥檚 opening day starter. He arrived in professional baseball with an improved velocity that kept his fastball around the mid-90s and allowed him to dial it up as high as 97.3 mph.

Mathews struck out 38 batters and posted a 0.50 ERA across 18 innings in the first three starts to begin his minor league career, which earned him Cardinals minor league pitcher of the month honors for April. He collected 52 strikeouts and sported a 1.47 ERA in six starts for Palm Beach, leading him to receive a promotion to Class High-A by the middle of May.

Mathews maintained a 2.68 ERA and struck out 58 batters in 43鈪� innings with Class High-A Peoria. Six of his seven starts for Peoria were quality starts and included two in which he struck out 11 batters. The continued consistency in his arrival to Class High-A helped Mathews advance to Class AA Springfield by the end of June and helped him earn a roster spot in the All-Star Futures Game.

While with Springfield, Mathews went 2-1 with a 2.41 ERA and 70 strikeouts. Mathew鈥檚 stay with the Cardinals鈥� Class AA affiliate spanned nine starts before the lefty, who turned 24 earlier this month, moved up to Class AAA, where he held a 6.48 ERA and struck out 22 batters in 16鈪� innings across four starts for Memphis.

Mathews鈥� 202 strikeouts made him the second minor league pitcher since 2011 and the 10th Cardinals minor league pitcher to strike out 200 or more batters in a season.

Among Cardinals minor leaguers with 350 or more plate appearances this year, Crooks led in OPS, was second in batting average and on-base percentage, and finished third in slugging percentage (.498). Crooks鈥� 156 weighted runs created-plus (wRC+) led Cardinals minor league hitters and was eighth across the minors among hitters who met the same plate appearance qualifications.

The 23-year-old catcher reached base in 74 of the 82 games he played. His 11 games with three or more hits were tied for third-most by a Cardinals prospect this season.

Crooks became the fifth Cardinals minor leaguer since 2012 to post a slash line better than .320/.400/.495 in 300 or more plate appearances in a single season, per Cardinals research.

Crooks played in 81 games at catcher 鈥� 73 of which were starts 鈥� for Springfield in a season during which it set a franchise record for wins with 79. From behind the plate, Crooks had a .996 fielding percentage and threw out 25 of the 76 base stealing attempts against him for a 32.9% caught-stealing rate.

With the accolade, Crooks becomes the third catcher to be named Cardinals minor league player of the year. He joins Ivan Herrera (2023) and Carson Kelly (2017) as the only three to have done so.

Since making his professional debut following the 2022 MLB draft, the former fourth-round pick out of Oklahoma owns a .290/.382/.462 slash line and has hit 26 homers, 51 doubles and driven in 142 RBIs in 128 games across.

Former coach Pitts dies

Former Cardinals coach and minor league manager 鈥淐hief鈥� Gaylen Pitts died last week at the age of 78.

Described as a 鈥渂aseball lifer,鈥� Pitts spent 40 seasons with the Cardinals as a coach, player and talent evaluator.

A former infielder, Pitts signed with the Cardinals as an 18-year-old amateur in 1964 and reached Class AAA by 1970. He was acquired by the Oakland Athletics in 1971 and reached the majors with Oakland by 1974. Pitts appeared in 28 big league games across the 1974 and 1975 seasons.

Pitts began his managing career in 1978 within Oakland鈥檚 farm system before returning to the Cardinals organization in 1981 as a minor league manager. Pitts also worked as a roving instructor and as a big league coach on former Cardinals manager Joe Torre鈥檚 staff from 1991 to 1995 in roles that included hitting, bullpen and bench coach.

Pitts returned to managing within the Cardinals farm system from 1996 to 2002 and then again from 2006 to 2008. After retiring from managing, Pitts was an assistant to player development within the Cardinals system from 2009 to 2013.