Having already delivered a two-run single in his MLB debut game on Tuesday, rookie catcher Leo Bernal smashed a two-run homer on Wednesday that helped the Cardinals defeat the Dodgers 8-6 in 10 innings. Bernal, 22 has four RBI in his first two MLB games.
Already this season, the St. Louis Cardinals have been witness to Joshua Báez having a three-homer MLB debut for the history books, JJ Wetherholt homering and delivering a walk-off hit in his first two big-league games and Bryan Torres smashing a home run in his first MLB game after spending 11 years in the Minor Leagues.
Now, switch-hitting rookie catcher Leo Bernal has entered the chat with yet another dazzling debut for a Cardinals club that continues to flex the power of their young player base.
Bernal, 22 and the No. 7-ranked prospect in the Cardinals’ Minor League system, made his MLB debut on Tuesday night at Dodger Stadium and had an electrifying two-run single as St. Louis broke open a rout against the back-to-back champs.
Then, on Wednesday night, Bernal showed off his enormous power potential by drilling a 377-foot homer off World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto to help the Cardinals rally from 3-0 and 5-2 deficits and defeat the Dodgers 8-6 in 10 innings.
“We bring the energy and I think that’s everything,” Bernal said to Cardinals TV after the series-clinching win over L.A. “We can beat (teams) with energy and fight. We compete out there with every at bat, and at the end of the day we see the results.”
Bernal, who like fellow Cards catcher Ivan Herrera hails from Panama City, Panama, put himself in position for an MLB callup with 16 homers, 19 doubles and 77 RBI in 101 games at Triple-A Memphis this season. Even while playing with the slugging Baez, Bernal was Memphis’ best hitter in July – a month when he hit .338 with a 1.143 OPS. He smacked six homers, seven doubles and a triple in the month, while also driving in 24 runs. He cooled off in August (.278 batting average, .748 OPS, two homers, a double and 13 RBI), but his body of work over the season was strong enough to earn him a big-league promotion.
Bernal changed the tenor of Wednesday’s game in Los Angeles with the prodigious swing he took in the sixth inning. After the Cardinals had gotten within 3-2 on a Thomas Saggese, Mookie Betts extended LA’s lead back out to 5-2 with a two-run clout. However, Bernal followed up Jordan Walker’s double by smashing a 3-2 fastball from a fading Yamamoto with a drive that left his bat at 103 mph.
“I just wanted a quality at bat by putting the barrel on the ball because we knew the pitcher we were facing,” Bernal said of Yamamoto, who gave up multiple homers in a game for just the third time in 2026. “We had a man on second, so I just wanted to have a good at bat there and (at least) move the runner. But it was a homer.”
Bernal became the 11th Cardinals’ rookie to make his MLB debut on Tuesday night and his Wednesday homer was the 46th by a first-year big leaguer. That is one long ball away from the all-time franchise record for homers by rookies with the 2017 Cardinals smashing 47 long balls.
Bernal nearly gave the Cardinals the lead in the ninth inning with a second homer. He drilled a 359-foot shot down the right field line – one that would have been a homer in 24 of 30 MLB ballparks, per Baseball Savant – but it was ultimately caught by right fielder Kyle Tucker.
Bernal also got plenty of help on Wednesday night from Báez, who delivered a pinch-hit double in the eighth inning to get the game tied. Then, the slugging outfielder drove in his 12th and 13th runs of his young career with another double down the third base line – this one coming in the 10th inning to provide the difference in the victory.
Bernal, who has the third-most RBI in his first two MLB games (four) behind only Joe Cunningham in 1954 (nine) and Báez on Aug. 15 at Wrigley Field (five), was delighted that his homer helped the Cardinals nab one of their most stirring victories of the season.
“(The win) is 100 percent the main thing,” said Bernal, who didn’t even need the help of translator Kleininger Teran with his English during his live postgame interview. “We prepare ourselves every day while looking for the wins. The way we did it tonight by coming back, that was awesome.”
