Track Record: At East Carolina, Burleson was a two-way player who earned a Collegiate National Team nod in 2019. He was drafted by the Cardinals in the supplemental second round in 2020 and has excelled as a position player in his two pro seasons. Burleson played 109 games with Triple-A Memphis in 2022 and hit .331/.372/.532 with 20 home runs, winning the International League batting title. He made his MLB debut on Sept. 8 and played in 16 games.
Scouting Report: Burleson's profile is heavily driven by his ability to hit for both average and power. He's a career .300 hitter in the minors, and while he hit just .188 for St. Louis, he also struck out just 17% of the time. Burleson's swing is geared for contact, with a flatter bat path that is adept at spraying a high rate of line drives to all fields. He's a plus bat-to-ball hitter who runs high in-zone contact rates. Burleson's approach borders on aggressive, and he's prone to expanding the zone. His stout, 6-foot-2, 212-pound build has natural strength. His ability to muscle the ball manifests in his batted-ball data, with an average Triple-A exit velocity of 89.7 mph in 2022. While Burleson gets to above-average power in games, he never gets out of his line-drive focused approach and swing. Defensively, Burleson is limited to a corner, where his range and route-running are fringy. His arm is average but is strong enough to project to left or right field.
The Future: Bat-driven corner-outfield prospects who are hit over power aren't the most attractive profiles. Regardless, Burleson has performed dating back to his amateur days. He is a potential everyday corner outfielder capable of hitting at the top half of a lineup.
Scouting Grades: Hitting: 60. Power: 50. Run: 40. Fielding: 45. Arm: 50
