ST. LOUIS -- A guest on FanDuel Sports Network during Wednesday night’s fourth inning, Hall of Fame manager Tony La Russa let loose a guttural reaction over the air just seconds after Cardinals’ outfielder Alec Burleson made a nifty catch while sliding over the right-field line.
“Whoaaaa, look at Larry Walker,” La Russa called out, referring to the seven-time Gold Glover and member of the 2004 Cardinals team that reached the World Series. “That’s not Larry Walker?”
Assuredly, Burleson would happily take any comparisons to Walker, the 1997 NL MVP and a five-time All-Star while playing for the Expos, Rockies and Cardinals from 1989-2005. As for Burleson, who can also play first base and pitched in college, he’s worked to improve his defense and conditioning to be able to hold his own in the outfield so the Cardinals can keep his prodigious bat in the lineup.
“I think I’ve probably put in more work outside the nine innings than I have during the games,” said Burleson, who couldn’t do much to prevent the Cardinals’ 8-0 loss to the Cubs. “I’ve done that with the early work with [Cardinals Hall of Famer and former coach] Willie [McGee] over the last few years and then [Jon Jay] and Stubby [Clapp] this year. There’s just a lot of extra work that goes into it that not everybody sees.
“But there were plays [in past years] that I feel like I could have made and didn’t. Now, it’s coming together for me this year. But it takes a lot more work and effort to play three different positions -- and not just play them, but also be able to hold your own out there.”
Burleson flashed his defensive improvement in the Cardinals’ pulsating 8-7 win over the Cubs on Tuesday, making a sliding catch to rob Chicago superstar Pete Crow-Armstrong of a hit and later chasing down a fly ball before crashing into the netting to end a threat in the seventh inning. Even in Wednesday’s lopsided loss to the Cubs, Burleson registered two defensive gems in right field. He covered 77 feet, per Statcast, to make the sliding catch that caught La Russa’s eye in the TV booth. Later, in the seventh inning, he scampered another 70 feet to rob Chicago’s Nico Hoerner for the second time in the game.
“The confidence is pretty high with his first step [improving], and his overall determination to get better at that [right field] position has been awesome,” raved manager Oliver Marmol. “He’s putting in the work, and it’s good to see him out there making some plays. And the range is improving, allowing him to get to some more plays. It does help us to not only be able to play him at first base and DH, but also being able to put him out there [in right field] from time to time. That frees up that DH spot.”
Burleson and newcomer Garrett Hampson, who played three positions in his first game with the Cardinals, got a lot of work on Wednesday as Erick Fedde struggled through his worst start of 2025. Long-time Cards killer Ian Happ homered on the first pitch of the game, and remarkably, things got worse. He surrendered three runs in the second, a solo run in the third and two more in the fourth before being lifted.
While he hoped to flush the memory of a bad outing, Fedde stressed that he must figure out a better plan of attack against a Cubs team he is expected to see again next weekend when the Cards play at Wrigley Field.
“I’ll have a lot to look at and I’ll have [the Cubs] again in 10 days, and that’s how I’m looking at it,” said Fedde, who came into Wednesday with an expected ERA of 4.99, which ranks in MLB’s bottom 12th percentile. “I’ll get my chance to change the narrative there. I felt like I had put together a good month and a half, and this one makes you feel like you ruined all that.
“It’s going to be about me taking the time to watch through this game, maybe see where I made mistakes and where I can grow. It’s time for me to go into the video room and dig in in there.”
Burleson has dug into getting better defensively, and some of the exceptional hand-eye coordination he’s shown at the plate has helped him in the field. Coming into Wednesday, he ranked in MLB’s 93rd percentile in squared-up rate (34.7%), 91st percentile in lowest strikeout rate (13.3%) and 89th percentile in lowest swing-and-miss rate (16.3%). Put that with his improved defense, and it’s easy to see why he’s evolved into an everyday player.
“Burly’s got a great swing, and he’s a great hitter, and when he makes great plays for us, that’s just huge,” said 10-time Gold Glover Nolan Arenado.