September baseball arrived with extra bodies and a familiar face in the outfield.
The St. Louis Cardinals used the first day of expanded 28-man rosters to promote catcher Leonardo “Leo” Bernal, right-hander Hancel Rincón and outfielder Victor Scott II ahead of Tuesday night’s series opener against the Dodgers at Dodger Stadium. Catcher Jimmy Crooks was optioned to Triple-A Memphis after Sunday’s game.
Bernal and Rincón will be making their major league debuts whenever they first appear. Scott II already has that box checked — he debuted at this same ballpark in March 2024.
The Cardinals (68-70) open a three-game set against first-place Los Angeles with Michael McGreevy scheduled to start opposite Eric Lauer. First pitch is 9:10 p.m. CDT.
Bernal, 22, is one of the better-regarded defensive catchers in the minors and Baseball America’s No. 5 Cardinals prospect. The switch-hitting Panama City native signed as an international free agent in January 2021 and spent his first full Triple-A season with Memphis this year.
He hit .278/.363/.468 with a .831 OPS, 16 home runs and 77 RBI — seventh in the International League — in his first year at that level. Last season he won a Rawlings Minor League Gold Glove.
Listed at 6-foot, 260 pounds, Bernal will wear No. 13. He joins a catching group that already includes Iván Herrera and Pedro Pagés.
Rincón, 24, has been in the organization since signing out of San Pedro de Macorís, Dominican Republic, in January 2019 at age 16.
The 6-foot-2, 185-pound right-hander is 6-6 with a 4.04 ERA at Memphis this season, with 88 strikeouts in 71.1 innings over 41 appearances, mostly in relief. Since July 1 he has posted a 2.76 ERA and 0.92 WHIP.
He will wear No. 66.
Scott II opened the season on the Cardinals’ roster and played 61 games before being sent to Memphis on June 8. He stole nine bases in that first stint.
In 57 games with the Redbirds he went 23-for-25 on stolen-base attempts and slashed .237/.320/.342. As a professional he has 209 stolen bases, including 48 with St. Louis.
The left-handed hitter wears No. 11. His first big-league game came at Dodger Stadium in 2024, so the surroundings will not be new even if the September role is.
When Bernal and Rincón get into a game, they will become the 11th and 12th Cardinals rookies to debut this season. Roster expansion is built for looks like this: extra pitching, extra catching depth, and a chance to see whether Scott II’s speed and glove can play again after a rough first two months at the plate.
Crooks heads back to Memphis after a stretch on the active roster. The club now has three catchers in Los Angeles and a bullpen arm who has been sharper over the last two months.
The Cardinals will need both production and depth on this West Coast trip. Tuesday is the first test.
