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No, 1982willie. The Triple-A team continues to play as it is the source of backfill for the MLB club over the next month.
Memphis had three catchers including Bernal. They will now have two, unless the org moves one up from Springfield.
Here is one measure of progress for the system.
Defending Texas League Champion Springfield clinched a playoff spot today, their fourth in the last four years. Memphis earned it in the AAA IL in the first half. That makes 2026 the first time both of the #stlcards top two affiliates made the post-season since 2010.
— Brian Walton (@B_Walton) August 31, 2026
If #stlcards' roster expansion additions on Tuesday are Leo Bernal and Hancel Rincon as rumored, it would be a breath of fresh air. In recent years, the two spots were used for guys coming off the IL or the same guys riding the I-55 Shuttle. (Last year, Scott (IL) and Roycroft.)
— Brian Walton (@B_Walton) August 31, 2026
Move #2.
Sources: Saint Louis Cardinals call up Dominican reliever Hancel Rincón. He’ll join the team in Los Angeles.
— Yancen Pujols (@YancenPujols) August 31, 2026
Pages to the bullpen?
Sources: The St. Louis Cardinals plan to call up 22-year-old Panamanian catcher Leo Bernal, the organization’s No. 7 prospect, according to @MLBPipeline.
Bernal is expected to make his MLB debut when the Cardinals face the Dodgers in Los Angeles beginning Tuesday.
— Francys Romero (@FrancysRomero) August 31, 2026
In other words, something that sounds relatively simple on the surface isn’t at all.
To do the analysis right, they’d also need to trade off the misses against the successes. For example, if you had the most successes, also having the most misses wouldn’t matter. I get that it probably wouldn’t be that extreme, but to me, successes matter far more than misses.
Any analysis of players missed would have to include all 30 teams. Every single org misses out on guys. IMO, the relevant question is, ‘Do the Cardinals miss more than other teams?’ Not ‘How many do they miss?’
1tough said:
The Cardinals have decided to strike the colors and pack it in for the remainder of the ’26 season. I was hoping they’d play baseball until Sept.
In fairness to the team, they’ve put seven players on the IL in the last nine days. That includes three starting infielders and two members of the rotation.
They don’t have the depth to recover. Not many teams probably would.
bb asked:
Prieto has a negative ML OPS+. How can it be negative and how can things get any more wretched?
Here is the formula. The worst possible is a negative 100. That would be if the player has a zero OBP and zero SLG.
OPS+ = 100 * (OBP/lgOBP + SLG/lgSLG – 1)
-100 = 100 * (0 + 0 -1)
My understanding is that they chose the formula to multiply by 100 so the OPS+ is always a whole number.
The #stlcards system was 1-3 on Saturday. The Cardinal Nation’s Player of the Day, Peoria’s Brayden Smith, homered as part of career-high five-hit game. Other standouts: Cooper Hjerpe, Pete Hansen, Jesús Báez, Caden Ferraro, Cade McGee and Travis Bissetta. https://t.co/6kNYdzhv1h pic.twitter.com/rauiqxRlr8
— Brian Walton (@B_Walton) August 30, 2026
Baez’ OPS+ is 86. That is slightly higher than Winn and equal to Jordan. Church is right there at 87. At least Baez has played in just 14 games.
Throw Pages/Crooks in and you have five of the nine spots in the batting order covered by below average MLB hitters. (And putting in Fermin/Gorman/Urias in there instead of Jordan doesn’t help.)
When your lineup is predominated by below average hitters, it seems like playing .500 ball is doing well.
bling said:
A lot of people were thinking a couple years until we are competitive again, so they better get cracking.
We are not even through year one yet and some impatient fans are already expecting a miracle turnaround.
I also don’t think any of the people who have a say said “a couple of years,” where “couple” means two. Reasonable people are thinking 2028 at the earliest.
The #stlcards system was 2-1 on Friday. The Cardinal Nation’s Player of the Day, Springfield RF Won-Bin Cho, went 2-for-5 with four RBI. Other standouts: Josiah Ragsdale, Jacob Odle, Brayden Smith and Andrew Williamson. https://t.co/bnTw9g2bDB pic.twitter.com/xYbwNvKCkj
— Brian Walton (@B_Walton) August 29, 2026
We can forget sometimes that this game is played by young men with big dreams.
On Opening Day, Noot presented JJ with his first career homer baseball. Now, Jimmy Crooks presents Quinn Mathews with the game ball from his first career win. Awesome moment. #STLCards pic.twitter.com/7ByvZ6A5Uj
— Ethan Hannaford (@echann7) August 29, 2026
The #stlcards Triple-A Memphis Redbirds went 4-2 on the week. Hancel Rincon hasn’t allowed a run in his last 8 1/3 relief innings on one hit and nine strikeouts. His ERA since June 1 is 2.47. Tabarius White reports. https://t.co/4boUMFkw8W pic.twitter.com/H0eDIUcSVd
— Brian Walton (@B_Walton) August 28, 2026
Union executive director Bruce Meyer: pic.twitter.com/U6lvA45kpX
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) August 27, 2026
Major League Baseball today proposed drastic changes to its offseason calendar, including shortening free agency to a two- to three-week window every offseason, sources tell ESPN. The details of the proposal:
– A free agent dead period until the first day of the Winter Meetings…
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) August 27, 2026
The #stlcards system was 3-1 on Thursday. TCN's Player of the Day, Springfield OF Tai Peete, crushed two home runs in a three-hit, three-RBI game. Other standouts: Bligh Madris, Ryan Murphy, Daniel Eagen, Dallis Moran, Sebastian Dos Santos and Owen Henne. https://t.co/YT1d3u7PkL pic.twitter.com/SfiuEOj4An
— Brian Walton (@B_Walton) August 28, 2026
CC said:
If Cards were competitive in the pennant race I think there would be discussion of a call up
I respectfully disagree. Especially because of the lockout threat, the Cards would not want to put RR on the 40-man yet and it would be very odd for them to leapfrog Bernal, who is already on the roster, is a top prospect in his own right and is having a good year at Triple-A.
I haven’t stood next to Rodriguez since spring training, but at that time, I had no trigger to be concerned about his weight. (I get you are saying body fat, but the closest surrogate I have is what I see.)
He could have gained weight during the season, but that would be unusual. Most players lose weight because of the long in-season grind, and if they put on pounds, it would be during the winter months.
It does bear watching, though.