12:41pm: Pozo is Miguel Diaz Jersey indeed being placed on the 7-day concu sion list, . 12:13pm: The Cardinals are promoting catcher and infielder , reports . The Prieto news was yesterday. The Cardinals have two 40-man openings and wont need to make corresponding moves to select either players contract from Triple-A Memphis. reports that first baseman/outfielder will be placed on the 10-day injured list as one of the corresponding active roster moves. Goold suggests that catcher could also be IL bound after getting struck by a foul ball yesterday. Itll be the big league debut for both Crooks and Prieto. Crooks, in particular, holds appeal as one of the organizations top-ranked prospects. He currently sits sixth at MLB.com and fifth at FanGraphs, where Crooks cracked the back half of their top-100 list. Crooks, who turned 24 in July, is regarded as a plus defensive catcher, but hes also posted at least average offensive numbers at every minor league stop hes made. Hes spent the 2025 season in Triple-A, where hes batting .274/.337/.441 with 14 home runs. Hes nabbed a strong 29.4% of runners whove attempted to steal against him with Memphis, and excellent framing grades in his career (though he hasnt been as sharp in that regard in 2025 specifically). A fourth-round pick out of Oklahoma back in 2022, Crooks doesnt have huge power but has reached double-digit homers in every full profe sional season thus far. His walk rate typically lands around 11%, though thats down to 8.4% this season. Hes fanned at a 26.5% clip as well, but strikeouts generally havent been a major i sue for him. With the Cardinals moving to first base and to the outfield, theres a clear long-term opportunity for Crooks behind the plate. and the aforementioned Pozo have been shouldering the catching workload in St. Louis since Herrera was shifted off the position, but Pags profiles more as a defensive-minded backup and Pozo is a 28-year-old journeyman who signed a minor league deal last offseason. The Cardinals entered the year intent on taking a look at some younger players in larger opportunities. Following the position changes for Contreras and Herrera, the final month of the season can serve as a proving grounds for Crooks. One month of playing time isnt going to decisively answer whether Crooks can handle the role in the long-term, but itll give the Cards some additional data to consider when weighing how heavily (if at all) to pursue catching help in the offseason. Presumably, with Pags standing as a plus defender who can at least provide modest pop, the Cards feel comfortable with Pags and Crooks getting the first crack at playing time in 2026. Pozo can be controlled for six more years, wont be arbitration-eligible this winter and has multiple minor league option years remaining, so the Cards could also keep him around if theyre satisfied with his performance to date. As for Crooks, hell be controllable for at least six full seasons, all the way through 2031. The earliest hell be able to qualify for arbitration is in the 2028-29 offseason, although both that timeline and his free agent timetable can be pushed back if hes optioned in the future. Hunter Pence Jersey