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The Cuban infielder César Prieto hit his sixth home run of the 2026 season with the Memphis Redbirds of Triple-A this Sunday, raising his batting average to .333 in just 23 games, and the pressure on the St. Louis Cardinals to call him up to the major league team grows with each at-bat.
The hit, a fly ball to right field against the Norfolk Tides, encapsulates the transformation Prieto has undergone this season: six home runs in 23 games compared to the nine he took 121 games to hit throughout the entire 2025 season.
The complete numbers are striking: 29 hits in 87 at-bats, a slugging percentage of .568, an OPS of .994, and 14 RBIs, according to journalist Francys Romero on Facebook.
The increase in production is no coincidence. During the off-season, Prieto worked in Tampa with coach Osvaldo Díaz, specifically focusing on improving the launch angle of his swing, a technical adjustment that is yielding evident results on the field.
Journalist Francys Romero, who closely follows the career of the player from Cienfuegos, summed up the situation accurately: "Some infielders on the Cardinals' major league team are not producing, so it could happen very soon."
The season opener for Prieto was spectacular right from the start. On April 8, he led all of Triple-A with a .452 batting average and three home runs, including a hit that traveled 385 feet against the Charlotte Knights in a 9-4 victory.
The context in St. Louis is conducive to a call. The Cardinals are in a rebuilding phase: they traded Nolan Arenado and Brett Donovan in the offseason for pitching prospects, and the current infield—with players like Nolan Gorman—faces criticism for inconsistency.
The manager Oli Mármol himself anticipated in December 2025 that Prieto "made significant progress from one season to another" and that "he has a good chance of playing in 2026."
The journey to this moment was not easy. Prieto joined the Cardinals system in August 2023, traded from the Baltimore Orioles along with Drew Rom and Zack Showalter in exchange for pitcher Jack Flaherty.
His Major League debut came on August 29, 2025, becoming the 33rd Cuban player to participate in a regular MLB season, although the experience was short-lived: just six at-bats and one hit before being sent back to Triple-A.
This season, the Cardinals optioned him to Memphis on March 7 after a modest spring, hitting .118 in 17 at-bats, and he even had a brief stint in Double-A before returning to Memphis on March 27.
Prieto also made his position clear regarding representing Cuba in the 2026 World Baseball Classic. When asked about it in June 2025, his response was unequivocal: "My answer is no."
With over 2,000 at-bats accumulated in the minor leagues and a performance that shows no signs of slowing down, the 26-year-old from Cienfuegos has built a strong case that the Cardinals can no longer ignore.
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