Cardinals Strategically Forced Rookie Catcher into Preparation Mode, Benefits Starting to Show

While it was Jimmy Crooks – and not record-setting rookie Leo Bernal – who got the promotion to the St. Louis Cardinals from Triple-A Memphis back on May 29, there is some clarity now as to the timing and order of the club’s elevation of their two catching prospects this season.

Promoting Crooks to the big-league club accomplished two goals for the Cardinals, manager Oliver Marmol said recently. It rewarded the 25-year-old Crooks for his strong start to the season at Triple-A, one that unfortunately for the lefty-hitting Crooks didn’t carry over to the big-league level.

Also, it forced the 22-year-old Bernal to become more involved in the pregame strategy sessions with pitchers and coaches. While not exactly shy, Bernal tended to take a backseat in those meetings while sharing the catching duties with Crooks until the work was force-fed onto him and he was pressed into using more of his English to communicate with others.

As it turned out, Bernal’s abilities to prepare for games and strategize with his own pitchers zipped into warp speed and that helped to get him ready for his own big-league promotion when he was elevated from Memphis to the Cardinals on Aug. 31.

“(Memphis coach Ben Johnson) said (Bernal) was doing a much better job over the three months that Jimmy was here (in St. Louis) of taking ownership over the advance meetings with the pitchers, the strategy work in the pregame with the pitching coaches and the in-game stuff,” Marmol said recently when discussing the ease and comfort that the 22-year-old Bernal showed almost immediately upon joining the Cardinals. “With Jimmy gone, (Bernal) had to own that work and I think it really helped him.”

In addition to him slashing .282/.322/.459/.781, hitting four homers and three doubles and driving in 18 runs in his first 21 MLB games, Bernal has drawn rave reviews from the Cardinals pitching staff for his preparedness before games and the manner in which he calls game while attacking opposing hitters. Many of the Cardinals pitchers, such as Quinn Mathews and Michael McGreevy, worked with Bernal at Double-A Springfield and Triple-A Memphis before arriving at the big leagues, so the familiarity has helped their chemistry while working together.

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Though he was unaware of what the Cardinals were doing at the time, Bernal admitted that it was helpful that the team forced him into a position of preparing for games as the everyday catcher in Memphis. That also got him familiar with the reams of scouting data that is used before a start as pitcher-catcher batteries formulate plans of attack against opposing hitters.

“Everything that I put into my work down there (in Triple-A) allowed me to be here now,” said the Panamanian-born Bernal through translator/bullpen catcher Kleininger Teran. “All of it helped me be more prepared to help the (pitchers) now. It’s a game of adjustments and being able to (run the pitchers’ meetings in Triple-A) allowed me to be ready for what I will see here.”

Marmol said that Bernal has differed from most rookies in that he possesses an understanding of the entire game and not just his sole responsibilities. As a catcher, Bernal has to know the plan of attack for the starting pitcher and any relievers who might be used that night. He also has to study opposing hitter’s hot zones and their weaknesses on a nightly basis to assist his own pitching stuff.

It is an expanded workload that might overwhelm some 22-year-old rookies. Not Bernal, who got on-the-job training down in Memphis before being brought to the big leagues.

“I can’t remember the last time I was thing impressed with a young dude coming up and being aware of his own game and outside his game as much as Bernal,” Marmol raved. “(Rookie second baseman) JJ (Wetherholt) is in that bucket and there are a couple of guys who are in that bucket who are different where they understand what they have to do to have success, and they also see the game in a way that’s impressive. Bernal fits into that.

“You see it all the time rookies where they are so locked into themselves and what they need to do to stay up here and they rarely see the rest of the field or the opposition. (Look back) at (Yadier Molina) where he sees that Gabe Kapler is about to steal and he puts on his own pitchout and throws the guy out. That’s like the 20-year version of what I’m talking about. You’re so used to seeing rookies take care of themselves and they don’t see the stuff out there, but (Bernal) is already doing things way outside of his zone. It lets you know what is possible for him.”