Cardinals' Manager Oliver Marmol on Rookie Catcher: 'Like, He's Just Really Advanced'

Before Leo Bernal ever stepped into the batter’s box for his first at bat at Busch Stadium on Friday night, St. Louis Cardinals' manager Oliver Marmol wanted to make one thing clear about the standout rookie who opened eyes with a stellar start to him MLB career on the recent road trip.

What Bernal just accomplished with 10 hits, two homers, 10 RBI and some stellar work behind the plate in his first nine games isn’t common, Marmol stressed.

“I can’t remember the last time I was as impressed by a young dude coming up and being as aware of his own game and outside of his own game as Bernal,” Marmol gushed about the 22-year-old catcher before his Cardinals took on the White Sox. “I mean, JJ (Wetherholt) is in that bucket, and maybe a couple of other guys are in that bucket where they understand what they have to do to have success, but they also see the complete game in a way that is impressive. He fits into that.”

Marmol said one of the things that he is most looking forward to watching over the final 15 games is how Bernal exerts his influence over the game. Nerves certainly weren’t an issue over his first few games, and as Bernal continues to grow more comfortable with the MLB game, Marmol expects the catcher to make even more strides in how advanced his game is offensively and defensively.

“He takes a real at bat, and he sees the game beyond what you would expect him doing at this point in his career,” Marmol said of the catcher. “Like, he’s just really advanced and there’s still a lot of room for improvement. But his baseline is already above the norm too, and that just makes what he is doing really cool.

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Despite the Cardinals 7-6 collapse against the Giants on Wednesday, Bernal emerged as a huge bright spot with how he played in his first big-league stretch.

Bernal, who was promoted from Triple-A Memphis on Sept. 1, ended the first inning of Wednesday’s game by throwing out Jonah Hill trying to swipe second base. Two innings later, he hit a 1-1 four-seam fastball well above the strike zone for a three-run smash that gave the Cards a seemingly safe lead before another bullpen meltdown in the eighth inning.

For Bernal, the No. 7-ranked prospect in the St. Louis system prior to his promotion, he had a rookie road trip for the ages. In his first nine games as a big leaguer, all Bernal did was homer twice, double, smash 10 hits and drive in 10 runs.

Looking calm and patient at the plate, Bernal singled in two runs in his MLB debut and then smashed a two-run homer in his second big-league game to aid a Cardinals’ comeback win in Dodgers Stadium.

While Bernal saw his career-opening seven-game hitting streak come to an end on Tuesday night in a 2-1 loss to the Giants, he potentially started another streak on Wednesday by bashing his second big league homer. He has been on base in all nine of his MLB games, and his four multi-RBI performances in his first nine games tied a 2001 mark set by legendary slugger Albert Pujols, who will join Molina in the Cardinals Hall of Fame when he is also inducted during a Busch Stadium ceremony on Saturday.

Through nine games, the native of Panama is hitting .281 with two homers, a double and 10 RBI. Those numbers are in line with the enormous promise he showed the past two seasons while at Double-A Springfield and Triple-A Memphis.

“With most rookies, they are so locked into just themselves and what they need to do to stay up that they rarely see the rest of the field,” Marmol said. “So, you are so used to seeing (rookies) just take care of themselves. But (Bernal) is already picking up on things way outside of that. It lets you know and gives you a good indication of what is possible for him.”