I believe I’ve unearthed my favorite Alec Burleson stat in 2026.
Those who have followed Burleson during his career know he likes to swing at a lot of pitches. Since the start of 2024 Burly’s swing rate (51.7%) ranks 34th among 179 qualifying hitters during that time. That means Burleson swings more frequently than 82 percent of big-league hitters.
And Burleson likes to swing at bad pitches too. Over the last two-plus seasons, Burly has a 36 percent chase rate when he goes chopping at pitches out of the strike zone. That means Burly swings at non-strikes at a higher rate than 79% of major-league hitters.
This isn’t bad, per se. Though we’re sure most if not all batting coaches would tell Burleson to avoid temptation and focus on hitting strikes.
As Burleson himself said a while back when asked what he was working on: “Mainly swing at more strikes, take your walks and do damage on pitches that you can — and not just swing at pitches to swing at them.”
Hey, we’ve all been there. We all know that certain things aren’t good for us. Instead of eating a bowl of ice cream, have a bowl of cherries. Take some raw veggies and scoop some hummus instead of sticking your grubby paws in a bag of Red Hot Riplets.
We, the imperfect humans, know it ain’t so easy to break habits.
Alec Burleson can claim he’s trying to lay off the bad stuff and “eat” healthy in the batters box by hunting for the more nutritious strikes.
After examining some numbers earlier today, I have something to say: swing away, big man. Get yourself some of those Red Hot Riplets. Don’t feel guilty. Tell the hitting coaches to pipe down.
You see, Alec Burleson is the Best Bad-Ball hitter in major-league baseball so far in 2026. He’s having a career year. He’s been fantastic. He’s on the short list of elite left-handed hitters that put up huge numbers against right-handed pitchers. I’ll get to that later.
When Burleson goes slashing at pitches that the ABS setup would laugh at – if ABS could talk – it’s OK. His chase rate is 34%, and only 25 percent of MLB batsmen are swinging at more rubbish. But Burleson does more than swing at the rubbish; he’s turning it into silver … as in the silver slugger award.
Among major league hitters that have at least 100 plate appearances in 2026, Burleson ranks first in both batting average (.326) and first in slugging percentage at (.500) when he connects on OOZ servings. (That stands for out-of-zone. I should call it OOZE. )
Burleson is 28 for 86 when he swings at the ooze. Six of the hits have gone for extra bases with six doubles and three home runs. And he has a low strikeout rate – 19% – when taking the wood to a non-strike.
For context, the overall strikeout rate on “ooze” this season is 32 percent, with a whiff-swing rate of 43%. Burleson’s whiff-swing on non-strikes is 16 percent lower.
Bring on the ooze, pitchers. Burleson likes it. And here’s the second part of my favorite Burly stat of the season:
– His batting average on strikes is .269, or 57 points lower than his .326 BA on non-strikes.
– His slugging percentage on non-strikes is .500, and that’s five points higher than his slug on strikes.
The same applies to Burly’s performance against righty pitchers – at least in batting average.
– Strikes from RH pitchers: .322 average.
– Non-strikes from RH pitchers: .343.
Hey, at least the “swing at more strikes” enthusiasts have this to hold onto. When connecting on strikes against the righties, Burleson is slugging .643, and he has nine home runs and 10 doubles. When he contacts non-strikes presented by righties, Burly’s slug is .543 with three homers and doubles.
What Burleson is doing definitely goes into the “unusual” file. His smashing success on balls out of the strike zone is a statistical anomaly that deviates from the standard hitting models of the current baseball era.
Coaches preach and teach zone discipline for a simple reason that’s verified by the math. When hitters chase pitches outside the strike zone, their exit velocity drops dramatically, and that undermines just about every hitting stat that matters.
– This season the overall MLB average on non-strikes is .160. Burly’s average is 166 points higher.
– This season the overall MLB rate in slugging on non-strikes is .222. Burleson’s slug tops that by 300 points.
Or to put it another way, and my head is spinning again: Burleson is hitting pitchers' chase pitches significantly better than the average MLB batter hits strikes.
I’m not kidding. Take a look:
– MLB overall average batting average on strikes: .270. That’s 49 points lower than Burly’s average on non-strikes.
– MLB average slugging percentage on strikes: .470. That’s good! But Burly has that beat by 30 points with his slug on non-strikes.
I mean, what? Who does this?
Well, Alec Burleson is doing this. He’s pulling this off with his elite bat-to-ball skills and superb hand-eye coordination. He can still barrel pitches when his hitting posture is off form.
And his bat stays in the zone longer than most hitters. Burleson's swing plane is naturally intercepting the pitch instead of getting out of whack by trying to murder the pitch.
That .326 average on non-strikes is due for some regression; batted-balls in play luck tend to inflate extreme out-of-zone numbers. But what Burleson is doing isn’t fluky; we know that his overall slug (.500) on non strikes – and his .543 slug vs. righties on non strikes. This offers proof that Burly is driving pitches that he shouldn’t be hitting with as much force as he does on a consistent basis. He’s hitting the so-called “pitcher’s pitches” and hurting their ERAs.
Can you imagine the conversation between a team’s pitching coach and his scheduled starting pitcher against the Cardinals?
Coach: “This Alec Burleson, good hitter but he swings at everything, so just make him chase.”
Pitcher: “If it’s that easy, to just make him chase and get ‘em out that way – then why is this dude hitting .287 with a .496 slug this season?”
Coach: “Other teams that have played the Cardinals this season are having success by getting him chasing.”
Pitcher: “OK, so why is Burleson having his best season in the show. If it’s so simple to get him out by getting him to chase, then why has he pounded homers in four of his last five games – and six homers in six of his last nine?”
We’ve seen impressive “bad ball” hitters before. Two of the more famous members of the bad-ball hitting club are Vladimir Guerrero Sr. and the late Yogi Berra. Willie McGee was pretty dang good at this particular art.
Burleson doesn’t have a high-effort swing that has high leg kicks, torso coils, and a lot of moving parts. Burleson has simple, noiseless, slow-effort mechanics that keeps him balanced and in better position to react to the pitch – and get to it. His barrel control is excellent.
One way we know this is Burly’s performance on two-strike counts this season:
– MLB average and wRC+ on two-strike counts this season: .174 and a wRC+ that’s 53% below average.
– Burleson’s average and wRC+ on two-strike counts this season: .233 and a wRC+ that’s 17 percent below league average.
If you're one of the Cardinals’ hitting coaches, what do you tell Burly? I’d go with this: "Hey Alec, try to pretend the pitch down the middle is actually three inches outside, OK?”
One more thing before I wrap this up.
Burleson is having a phenomenal season with his assault on right-handed pitching. More numbers, yes. But you need to see them!
Through Sunday this is where Burleson stood among left-handed batters in encounters against RH pitchers:
* Batting average: .330, tied with Yordan Alvarez for tops in the majors.
* On-base percentage: .405, sixth overall.
* Slugging pct: .605, first in the NL and second to Alvarez overall.
* OPS 1.010: fourth overall to Alvarez, Nick Kurtz and James Wood.
* wRC+, 180, which is 80% above league average offensively. That’s fourth in MLB behind Alvarez, Wood and Kurtz.
Burleson, 28, can become a free agent after the 2028 season. The Cardinals can keep him and extend him. They can take advantage of his increasing value and monitor trade interest. That’s to be determined by other people in positions of authority.
Me? I just want to watch him hit.
Thanks for reading …
–Bernie
Bernie was inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame in 2023. During a St. Louis sports-media career that goes back to 1985, he’s won multiple national awards for column writing and sports-talk hosting – and was the lead sports columnist at the Post-Dispatch from 1989 through 2015. Before that Bernie spent a year at the Dallas Morning News, covering the Dallas Cowboys during Tom Landry’s final season (1988) plus the sale of the team to Jerry Jones and the hiring of Jimmy Johnson as coach. Bernie has covered several Baseball Hall of Fame managers during his media career including Tony La Russa, Whitey Herzog, Earl Weaver, Joe Torre and (as an interim) Red Schoendienst. In his career as a beatwriter and columnist, Bernie covered Pro Football Hall of Fame coaches Joe Gibbs, Tom Landry, Jimmy Johnson and Dick Vermeil on a daily basis.
Bernie has covered and written about many great St. Louis sports team athletes including Albert Pujols, Kurt Warner, Brett Hull, Yadier Molina, Adam Wainwright, Jim Edmonds, Marshall Faulk, Scott Rolen, Mark McGwire, Orlando Pace, Isaac Bruce, Torry Holt, Adam Wainwright, Chris Carpenter, Al MacInnis, Brian Sutter, Bernie Federko, Chris Pronger, Dan Dierdorf, Jackie Smith and Aeneas Williams. Bernie covered every baseball Cardinals’ postseason game from 1996 through 2014 and was there to chronicle teams that won four NL pennants and two World Series. He provided extensive coverage on the “Greatest Show” St. Louis Rams and has written extensively on the St. Louis Blues, Saint Louis U, and Mizzou football and basketball. Bernie was/is a longtime voter for the Baseball Hall of Fame, Pro Football Hall of Fame, Heisman Trophy and the St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame.
You can access his columns, videos and the podcast version of the videos here on STL Sports Central, catch him regularly on KMOX (AM or FM) as part of the Gashouse Gang, Sports Rush Hour, Sports Open Line or Sports On a Sunday Morning shows. And you can catch weekly “reunion” segments here at STL Sports Central featuring Bernie and his longtime friend Randy Karraker.