Cardinals' Standout Catcher Goes Deep in Dominican Winter League

Picking up where he left off following a dazzling debut with the St. Louis Cardinals, standout catcher Leo Bernal smashed his first homer in the Dominican Winter League on Friday night.

Bernal, 22, became the story of September for the Cardinals when he was promoted from Triple-A Memphis and showed incredible poise and patience at the plate. He needed just 24 games at the big-league level to drive in 21 runs, while also smashing five homers and three doubles.

Playing for Estrellas Orientales, Bernal worked the count full and then drilled a 92.9 mph sinker from former Padres’ prospect Aaron Brooks. The ball left Bernal’s bat at 105.8 mph and it traveled 372 for his first homer of the Dominican Winter League season.

Bernal, a native of Panama City, Panama, said in September that he hoped to play in the Dominican Winter League in order to get as many reps as he could to grow before Spring Training.

Bernal went 2 for 5 with two runs scored and one RBI off the solo home run. Cardinals’ infield prospect Cesar Prieto, who made his MLB debut in 2025 and saw more time with the Cards in 2026, is a teammate of Bernal’s in the Winter League. He went 2 for 6 with two RBI in Estrellas’ 11-0 win.

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Bernal, who is still classified as the Cardinals’ No. 4-ranked prospect, hit .278 with an .831 OPS, 19 doubles, 16 homers and 77 RBI in 101 games with Triple-A Memphis to put himself in position for a promotion for his MLB debut. For Bernal, an international free-agent signee for $680,000 in January of 2021, he worked his way through the Cardinals system after spending parts of six years in the Minor Leagues.

Bernal was promoted on Aug. 31, and he made his MLB debut at Dodgers Stadium on Sept. 1. He drove in two runs in his first MLB game and smashed a solo homer in his second game – two Cardinals wins over the Dodgers. Incredibly, he drove in 12 runs in his first 10 MLB games – something no other rookie in the storied history of the Cardinals had ever accomplished.

Then, in what became his final swing of the season at Busch Stadium, Bernal swatted a 424-foot, no-doubter of a two-run homer of Washington Nationals reliever Yovanny Cruz. The smash left Bernal’s bat at 108.5 mph and it lifted the Cards to a 5-3 victory in their final home game of the 2026 season.

In his 24 MLB games, Bernal slashed .284/.333/.474/.807 with eight extra-base hits, 12 runs scored and his 21 RBI.