The Cardinals waited until Sept. 1 to give Leo Bernal his first crack in the majors, and the timing has become the part that stings.
Bernal has been exactly what St. Louis needed behind the plate.
In 13 games since his promotion, he’s hit .327/.375/.558 with a .933 OPS, three home runs, 14 RBIs, three doubles and just 10 strikeouts. He has also been a difference-maker defensively, with the kind of Baseball Savant page that shows plenty of red, even if he hasn’t been in the big leagues long enough to qualify for most advanced metrics.
The numbers only sharpen the regret. Before Bernal arrived, the Cardinals were still in the race, sitting at 68-70 on Sept.
- They’re now 75-76 and 7 1/2 games out of a playoff spot, with their elimination number down to four.
If Bernal had been in the lineup earlier in the second half, when the postseason was still realistically on the table, St. Louis might have had a different look in the middle of the order.
That’s especially true when you stack his production against the other options the Cardinals used. Jimmy Crooks was hitting .179/.255/.336 with five home runs and 14 RBIs in 52 games before his demotion.
Pedro Pagés has posted a .212/.263/.313 line with four homers and 11 RBIs in 77 games. Meanwhile, Bernal had already been raking in Triple-A, and the Cardinals knew it.
Since reaching the majors, he’s been one of the club’s best hitters overall. His 165 OPS+ means he has been 65 percent better than the average big league hitter since the call-up, a huge number for any player and even more eye-catching for a catcher just getting started.
The early milestones have piled up fast, too. Bernal set the Cardinals record for most RBIs by a player in his first 10 big league games with 12, and he owns the organization mark for most extra-base hits in his first 13 games with six.
He even drew praise for the broader profile he brings, with a reminder that he won a Gold Glove in the minors last season. The Cardinals have their catcher now. The only question is how much earlier they could have had him.
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St. Louis has spent plenty of time looking for the kind of pitcher who can change the shape of a staff, and Striders availability would fit that search. Atlanta reportedly explored moving him to Texas for Jacob deGrom at the trade deadline before deGrom used his no-trade clause to stop it, which only adds to the sense that Strider could be in play if the Braves are willing to listen. For the Cardinals, the appeal is obvious, even if the real question is whether they can put together the kind of deal that gets them into the conversation. [Read more 🡒]
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Jordan Walker Is Being Overlooked In One Cardinals Debate That Matters
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The overlook makes some sense on the surface, because Walker was never quite treated like a full-fledged comeback case in the first place. He had already established himself to a degree, and he did not have the kind of major injury return story that tends to drive these awards. Still, the Cardinals have watched him put together a much better season than the one that came before it, and if this debate is supposed to reward meaningful recovery and renewed production, Walker belongs in it whether the market has noticed or not. [Read more 🡒]