Alec Burleson Chasing Rare 22-Year Cardinals History

Aug 17, 2026; Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Alec Burleson (41) high fives teammates after scoring on a RBI single hit by shortstop Masyn Winn (not pictured) in the fourth inning against the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park. Mandatory Credit: Katie Stratman-Imagn Images IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Alec Burleson Chasing Rare 22-Year Cardinals History

Originally posted on St. Louis Cardinals on SI
By Patrick McAvoy | Last updated Aug 29, 2026 10:46 AM ET

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When the 2026 Major League Baseball trade deadline approached, there was some buzz out there about St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Alec Burleson.

There were teams out there that wanted Burleson. But the Cardinals made the right call by keeping him in town. In fact, they arguably should actually find a way to get a long-term deal done with the 27-year-old as well. Right now, he's under team control for two more seasons. St. Louis should find a way to keep him around longer than that.

The reason why is that he's simply one of the best overall first basemen in baseball. Last year, he was still being used all over the place in a utility role. He earned his first Silver Slugger Award and shined. After the Cardinals traded Willson Contreras to the Boston Red Sox, the club moved Burleson over to first base and he has been even better.

Alec Burleson Is A Star

IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Burleson has 135 games under his belt on the season so far and he is slashing .290/.353/.481 with an .834 OPS, 21 home runs, 99 RBIs, 33 doubles and 78 runs scored. Burleson is already at 3.0 wins above replacement, which is a new career high. He's leading the league with his 33 doubles and is just three RBIs behind Sal Stewart for the top spot in baseball. Burleson is inching his way towards St. Louis history as well. Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch shared on X that once Burleson records one more RBI and reaches 100 for the season, he'll be the first left-handed hitter to reach the milestone in 22 years since Jim Edmonds back in 2004.

"With his next RBI, Alec Burleson will be the first Cardinals left-handed batter with 100 RBIs in 22 years," Goold wrote on X. "The most recent: Jim Edmonds, 2004."

Right now, Burleson has the second-best batting average among all first basemen in baseball (.290), the second-most base hits (149) and the most doubles (33).

Plus, again, Burleson is just 27 years old. He'll be 28 years old on Nov. 25. He should just get better at this point. He broke out in 2024, got better in 2025 and has been even better so far this season. Cardinals history is on the way for the young slugger and St. Louis should do everything possible to get some sort of extension sorted out after the season.

This article first appeared on St. Louis Cardinals on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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