The St. Louis Cardinals missed a massive opportunity this season. It is hard to look at the current standings and not feel a bit frustrated. We had a chance to change the math in the Wild Card race, but the front office waited too long to pull the trigger on a talent that was ready to explode.
The evidence is right there in the box scores. According to Sports Illustrated, the club finally gave Leo Bernal his first major league shot on September 1. Since that date, the young catcher has been playing at an incredible level. In 13 games, he has posted a .327/.375/.558 slash line. His production includes three home runs and 14 RBIs. He has also recorded three doubles and only 10 strikeouts. His OPS sits at a massive .933. That is not just good for a rookie; it is elite. Sports Illustrated reports that since his promotion, Bernal’s OPS+ is 165, showing his performance was 65 percent superior to the average big league hitter during that span.
Records and production at the plate
The numbers Bernal is putting up are nothing short of absurd. He isn’t just hitting; he is rewriting the history books for newcomers. With 12 RBIs, he established a Cardinals record for the most by a club member in their first 10 big league games. During their first 13 games, he also holds the organization record for the most extra-base hits by anyone, totaling six. It is impossible to deny that the kid is the real deal.
The mistake was the timing. The team entered the day on September 1 with a 68-70 record. While a playoff run was already looking unlikely, the window wasn’t shut tight. If the club had him earlier in the second half, the entire season might have looked different. Instead, we watched struggling production from other players while a superstar was waiting in the wings.
The cost of waiting too long
You cannot look at the decline of other players and not see the gap Bernal could have filled. Before his demotion, Jimmy Crooks recorded a .179/.255/.336 slash line, hitting five home runs and driving in 14 runs across 52 games. Pedro Pagés has also faced consistency issues, posting a .212/.263/.313 line with four homers and 11 RBIs in 77 games. Bernal has been the spark we needed, but he arrived far too late to help with the playoff hunt. At present, the team holds a 75-76 record, sitting 7 1/2 games behind a playoff position with an elimination number of four.
It is easy to say hindsight is 20-20, but that doesn’t change the fact that the middle of this lineup was hollow for weeks. Bernal was clearly tearing things up in Triple-A all season. He should have been the main guy behind the plate moving into the 2027 season.
