Just Catch the Ball

Just Catch the Ball

In 2018, East Carolina was facing elimination in an NCAA regional when coach Cliff Godwin called Alec Burleson into his office and asked if he could play left field — a spot he hadn't played all season. Burleson said it was no problem. You catch fly balls and throw them in. He went out and did it.

Burleson had come to East Carolina from East Lincoln High School in Denver, North Carolina, where he was a two-sport athlete in baseball and basketball. At ECU he was a two-way player, hitting and pitching, and earned All-America honors before the Cardinals took him 70th overall in the 2020 draft and signed him as an outfielder. He debuted on September 8, 2022, and has been in St. Louis ever since: five seasons, 536 games, a .272 average, 97 doubles, 68 home runs.

He is at first base now. In 2025 he won a Silver Slugger as a utility player. On August 3 of this year, he collected his 500th career hit — every one in a Cardinals uniform. He is 27, with 132 hits and 20 home runs through 122 games this season.

What Stays

On trade deadline day this year, manager Oliver Marmol called Burleson into his office, shook his hand as though delivering trade news, then told him he was staying. Marmol told him to just be himself. That night Burleson hit three home runs against the Yankees.

He married Mary in November 2023. She works as a Pitt County sheriff near Greenville, North Carolina — a job Burleson has called more demanding than his own. Their son Braxton Andrew was born in October 2025. After a 3-for-3 game this spring, Burleson left the ballpark to get back to Mary and the baby, noting that his son's antics gave him a release from whatever had happened on the field.

Reporting: Baseball America, MLB.com, Wikipedia, East Carolina University Athletics. Career and biographical data: MLB StatsAPI, via the Fever engine.