The St. Louis Cardinals looked to have finally been committing to their future when they called up catching prospect Jimmy Crooks III on Friday, but he remained out of the lineup for the first two games of the series against the Cincinnati Reds. As has been the case for the vast majority of the year, Pedro Pages was behind the plate for his 98th game this year.
Coming into August, the commitment to playing Pages every day was draining on fans, as the catcher started the month with a .201 batting average and 54 WRC+ with just six homers.