photo: 2026 Dominican Summer League Cardinals (St. Louis Cardinals)
At .509 (28-27), the rookie-level Cardinals Dominican Summer League club posted their second consecutive winning season. On the young roster, the hitters performed better than the pitchers compared to the league.
The Dominican Summer League Cardinals concluded 2026 at 28-27 (.509), in fourth place in the six-team Southeast Division and 27th-best mark in the league. They missed the playoffs in the 51-team circuit for the seventh consecutive season.
It was a minor backslide from their 2025 results, which included a .536 record and a third-place division finish. The rookie-level Cards ended the 2026 season 8 1/2 games out of first place, compared to four games behind in 2025.
This summer’s Cardinals finished just above .500 at home (15-13, .536) and just below .500 while away (13-14 .481). They experienced a more difficult time facing opponents with winning records, with a subpar 12-17 (.414) mark against them.
The DSL Cards won both of their extra-inning contests in 2026 but were 7-7 in one-run games. They especially struggled against left-handed pitching, going just 2-8 in those starts.
The planned 56-game schedule opened on June 1 and concluded on August 18, with one cancelation. The Cards began the season strongly as they won five of their first six. The remainder of the first month, they roughly played .500 ball, ending June at 13-9. July was more difficult as they went just 7-12 to dip below .500 at 20-21 overall. The Cardinals finished relatively better, going 8-6 in August.
While no team hinges on just one player, it is worth noting that the organization’s biggest money 2026 signing, outfielder Emanuel Luna, appeared in just three games after June 11. In Luna’s nine games played this season, the Cardinals went 6-3.
Though pitching had customarily been the strength of the DSL Cardinals, that was not the case in 2026. On the surface, hitting and pitching appeared to be relatively balanced, as evidenced by their run differential of +1 for the season (384 scored vs. 383 allowed). However, that is misleading. As you will see below, the offense performed comparatively better than the pitching.
Fray Peniche has managed the club since 2011. Prior to the season, he was honored with the organization’s 2025 George Kissell Award for player development excellence.
Offense
The Cards tied with eight other teams for the 11th-youngest offense in the 51-team DSL at an average age of 17.4 years. In comparison, the league offenses ranged from 17.0 to 19.3 years old with the average age of 17.5.
Statistically, the performance of the 2026 Cardinals offense, coached by Luis Reynoso and Wesslye Cuas, was significantly above average.
The Cardinals were 15th of 51 in runs scored (384). They were 15th in batting average (.268) but just 26th in on-base percentage (.404). Where they really stood out was in slugging at .425 (third) and they tied for eighth in OPS (.829).
Behind that strong slugging percentage, the DSL Cards were third with 107 doubles and tied for ninth with 39 home runs.
However, they were laggards on the bases. The Cardinals placed a distant last at only 39 steals, with the next two closest teams at 55 and 66, respectively. The league leader swiped 212! Cardinal baserunners were caught 14 times for an ok success rate of 73.5%.
Strikeouts were a major problem for Cards hitters as they were punched out 470 times, fifth most in the league. They were a bit better than average at taking walks with 336, ranked 22nd most in the DSL.
Pitching
At an average of 17.9 years of age, Cardinals pitching was tied with three other teams as the seventh youngest staff in the DSL. The league ranged from the low of 17.4 to a high of 19.6 and averaged 18.5.
As a group, the Cardinals’ hurlers were considerably less successful than their hitting teammates. Their collective 7.31 ERA ranked 38th, over a run higher than the league average ERA of 6.25.
It was not all dismal, however. Led by long-time pitching coaches Bill Villanueva and Wilman Madera, Cardinals pitchers tied for 13th in strikeouts (411) and tied with two other staffs for 15th fewest walks issued (296).
The problem was big hits against them. With 39 long balls allowed, the Cardinals tied for ninth most with two other teams.
Their batting average against of .268 was 15th highest in the DSL, but their opponents slugged .425 against them, third highest in the league. The team OPS of .828 was 10th highest among DSL pitching staffs.
Disappointingly, the starters were below average – 32nd with an ERA of 5.99, but better in WHIP, 19th at 1.56. They tied for the 22nd highest batting average against at .259. Because they don’t often go five innings (averaging just over 3 1/3 innings per start), DSL Cardinals starters won just three games all season (against 16 losses).
The bullpen was a disaster area. The relievers’ aggregate ERA of 8.41 (not a typo) was “only” eighth highest in the league. Their WHIP was 16th highest at 1.96, due in part to the 32nd most free passes issued (196). An even greater contributor to all the traffic on the bases was that the bullpen yielded a batting average against of .277, tied for 10th highest in the DSL.
Defense
The 2026 Cardinals defense was below league average – at least in terms of errors (88, T-18th most) and with a collective .948 fielding percentage (36th highest).
On an even less positive note, the catchers tied for seventh worst in the DSL with a meager 18% caught stealing rate (32 of 143). That clearly did not help the pitching numbers.
Large but static roster
With a roster that was usually approaching its 35-player maximum, Peniche had to be challenged by getting everyone regular action. At least, the roster was very static. Just 39 different individuals took the field for the 2026 DSL Cardinals – 22 pitchers and 17 position players.
Another measure of the inexperience of the Cardinals is that of the 39, 17 were signed in 2026 – 10 hitters and seven pitchers.
Transactions
With the active roster so tight, the Cardinals made use of the 60-day injured list. Right-hander Leonil DeLeon was placed there on July 13, and fellow righty Sal Figueroa joined him three days later. Pitcher Briam Reyes spent all of 2026 on the Restricted List.
However, no players were placed on the regular seven-day IL all season long, even though Luna missed two separate 30-day periods, for example.
With the season winding down, on August 14, right-handed pitcher Ryan Rodriguez and first baseman Christian Saez were released.
There were two in-season promotions of DSL players upward to the Florida Complex League. On July 8, left-handed starting pitcher Hendrick Caña and infielder Yeferson Portolatin shifted to Jupiter.
As the schedule concluded, infielder/outfielder Jesus Perez and catcher Sebastian Rojas were also promoted to the FCL in preparation for 2027.
A month later, Luna and shortstop Carlos Carrion followed them. Like Luna, Carrion missed most of this first professional season, answering the bell for just 10 games. Not surprisingly, the two were the two highest bonused Cardinals signings in 2026 at $2.3 million and $1.1 million, respectively.
Others from among the best performing 2026 DSL Cardinals will head to the US in the spring to eventually play for the 2027 Florida Complex League Cards.
All-Star duo
First-year catcher Sebastian Rojas was named a 2026 DSL All-Star. He was joined on the National League squad for the mid-season game by pitcher Daniel Gómez, a 2025 signing. Neither played in the mid-season game.
The Cardinals had no DSL post-season All-Stars, either pitchers or hitters, in 2026.
What is next?
Much more detail on the DSL Cardinals’ top hitters, relievers and starting pitchers is coming as we select the best of the best in upcoming articles in this series.
Check out The Cardinal Nation’s annual article series highlighting team results and top hitters and pitchers across the entire St. Louis Cardinals system. The Florida Complex League Cardinals Team Review is next up.
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