This story was excerpted from Will Leitch’s Cardinals Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
This season has featured 13 different Cardinals making their Major League debuts, a group that includes a likely top-three NL Rookie of the Year finisher (JJ Wetherholt) and a history-making slugger (Joshua Báez). But the Sept. 1 callup of catcher Leo Bernal (MLB Pipeline's No. 7 Cardinals prospect) sure looks like it may end up being the most substantial of them all.
Since Bernal’s debut – a game in which his first big-league hit was a two-run single – he has become one of the best and most valuable Cardinals. In his first 13 games, through Monday, he put up a .933 OPS (the highest on the team, in a tiny sample), with three homers, 14 RBIs and a Baseball Savant page that is flashing red everywhere. (That’s a good thing.)
Bernal also has shown promise behind the plate, via his dexterity, throwing arm and ability to earn his pitchers’ trust that came well-advertised from his time in the Minors. But what has been most impressive about Bernal is how, from his very first at-bat, he seemed so comfortable in the big leagues. There is an undeniable calm about him.
"He looks the part in a lot of different ways," manager Oliver Marmol said on a recent Cardinals broadcast. "Physically we're starting to see what he's capable of doing and mentally he's been impressive, with how he thinks about the game and prepares for the game. Then he goes out there and executes the plan. I've been super encouraged by him."
You could almost feel the passing of the torch this past weekend, when franchise legend Yadier Molina was inducted into the Cardinals Hall of Fame, so soon after Bernal’s arrival.
You do not have to squint hard to see Bernal as the Cardinals’ catcher for the next several years. Obviously, it’s just 13 games. But he looks like a perfect fit. And if that’s true – if catcher, a very crowded position in the Cardinals system, is locked down – it has wide-ranging ramifications. Here are three takeaways for the rest of the Cardinals in the wake of Bernal’s immediate emergence.
Iván Herrera is on the clock
This was supposed to be Herrera’s full-on breakout year. The Cardinals have loved his raw power for years, and he would not only have every opportunity to be in the lineup all season, he’d even be allowed to catch occasionally. Catcher is his preferred position despite perpetual struggles behind the plate, most notably with his throwing arm. The arm is still a big problem, and despite some impressive ABS challenge skills, it sure looks like Herrera’s chances at catcher (51 starts this season) could shrink even further in the wake of Bernal’s arrival.
But the larger issue is the bat. After a terrific start – he had a .391 OBP and .822 OPS at the end of May – his numbers have steadily fallen as the year has gone along. His OBP is down to a still-solid .356 (tops on the team). But perhaps even more worrisome, the power has regressed; despite playing 43 more games than he did last year, he has three fewer homers. And now he doesn’t have a regular position other than DH, which the Cardinals likely aren’t willing to commit entirely to him, Yordan Alvarez-style.
Herrera sure looks to be at a crossroads. Will he find another position? Will he hit enough to thrive as a full-time DH? Will the Cardinals look to trade him?
Rainiel Rodriguez may end up on the Herrera plan
The Cardinals’ top prospect (No. 17 on Pipeline’s Top 100) has not been called up to Triple-A Memphis yet, but if he stays in Double-A Springfield any longer, he’s going to end up knocking over a building or something. Rodriguez has been an absolute monster this month, putting up a .432/.532/.703 line with more walks than strikeouts over his final 10 regular season games, ahead of the Texas League playoffs. His most recent homer, as noted by MLB.com’s Jesse Borek, made him the first player since at least 2005 to hit 23 homers in a season at Double-A before turning 20 years old.
While Rodriguez has played 24 games at first base this season and served as a DH 25 times, he has gotten the bulk of his time behind the plate (66 games). He’s not the catcher defensively Bernal is, though he has a considerably better arm than Herrera does. He’ll surely be given every opportunity to catch when he eventually makes it to Memphis, but when he reaches the Majors, one wonders if he’ll be deployed like Herrera was this year: at catcher once a week or so, and at DH the rest of the time. (Jimmy Crooks could fill the Pedro Pagés role in a three-catcher rotation.)
The Cardinals won’t move Rodriguez off catcher if they don’t have to. But if Bernal is the guy moving forward, then someday, they may have to.
The Cardinals' 2027 lineup looks pretty set
Heading into the 2026 season, the Cardinals were, by design, in a state of uncertainty. Masyn Winn was well-established at short, and you hoped Wetherholt would secure second base, but everything else, essentially every position, was up in the air. Nothing is guaranteed of course, and you can never account for injury or unexpected regression, but the Cardinals look like they’ve got short and/or long-term solutions at most positions on the field, with two glaring exceptions.
C Bernal
1B Alec Burleson
2B Wetherholt
3B (Open)
SS Winn
LF Báez
CF (Open)
RF Jordan Walker
Now, the pitching, of course, is another matter. But you don’t have to look far to see the Cardinals’ coffers building up there. (Quinn Mathews’ strong work of late is one positive sign.) As for the lineup, though: The Cardinals have answered many questions this year. And they just have answered the biggest one at arguably the biggest position. Bernal has been a revelation. And his story is just beginning.