April 7: The Cardinals made these strikes official right this moment. To open the required 40-man spot, left-hander Zack Thompson was transferred to the 60-day IL. He was shut down in early March because of a tear in his left lat muscle. He’s now ineligible to be reinstated till 60 days from Opening Day, which might be late Could.
April 6: The Cardinals are planning to position catcher Ivan Herrera on the injured checklist because of left knee irritation tomorrow, as membership supervisor Oli Marmol advised ESPN’s Buster Olney on this night’s Sunday Evening Baseball broadcast. Marmol added that preliminary check outcomes got here again clear on Herrera’s knee and that it stays structurally sound regardless of the upcoming IL placement. As relayed by Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Submit-Dispatch, the Cardinals will choose the contract of catcher Yohel Pozo to pair with Pedro Pages behind the plate whereas Herrera is on the shelf. A 40-man roster spot will should be vacated to accommodate Pozo.
As famous by Goold earlier right this moment, Herrera’s damage occurred throughout Recreation 1 of a double-header between the Purple Sox and Cardinals this afternoon and required Herrera to be helped off the sector after he felt discomfort when working from first to 3rd on a single. Herrera gave the impression to be doing higher later within the day, as John Denton of MLB.com notes that the backstop was transferring across the clubhouse with out ache in the course of the layoff between right this moment’s two video games towards Boston. Even so, it’s hardly a shock that Herrera is headed for the injured checklist given bodily toll that catching takes on a participant’s knees. With Herrera affected by knee irritation, that would imply a reasonably vital absence even with imaging having revealed no structural harm.
It’s a considerable loss for the Cardinals. Herrera has loved a scorching begin to the 12 months, hitting .400/.455/1.100 in his first 22 plate appearances this 12 months with 4 dwelling runs, three of which got here throughout a single recreation towards the Angels earlier this week. That’s clearly a small pattern dimension, however even Herrera’s profession slash line within the majors getting into play right this moment sat at a formidable .296/.371/.444, good for a wRC+ of 130 throughout 102 video games. That’s a powerful mark for any hitter, however it’s nothing in need of phenomenal from the catcher place and would make Herrera among the finest offensive backstops within the sport if maintained over the total 2025 marketing campaign.
Any hope of that must be placed on maintain for now, nonetheless, as Herrera is ticketed for the injured checklist for the foreseeable future. Within the meantime, it seems that Pages will step in because the membership’s common catcher. Pages has gotten off to a strong begin this 12 months in his personal proper, going 4-for-10 with a double and a homer towards only one strikeout in 5 video games. The 26-year-old is mostly not considered providing the identical offensive ceiling as Herrera, nonetheless, and hit simply .238/.281/.376 in 68 video games for the Cardinals final 12 months. With that being stated, he’s a strong defensive catcher who can provide constantly satisfactory offense behind the plate and may have little hassle holding issues down whereas Herrera is away.
Maybe extra fascinating than Pages’s flip because the beginning catcher is the membership’s plans for the backup catcher spot on the membership. Veteran Willson Contreras spent the whole lot of his large league profession as a catcher till this offseason, when the Cardinals moved him to first base. Although usually considered an average-to-below-average defensive choice behind the plate, Contreras has usually been serviceable as a bat-first catcher all through his profession. That made it one thing of a shock that the membership will not be solely opting to name up Pozo to function Pages’s backup, however that the membership didn’t even use Contreras behind the plate throughout right this moment’s double-header, as a substitute having Pages catch practically two full video games. That implies that Contreras received’t even be used behind the plate on an emergency foundation, regardless that a lineup with him behind the plate and Alec Burleson or Luken Baker at first base would absolutely be extra offensively strong than one that includes both Pages or Pozo.
Regardless, with Contreras locked in at first base it appears that evidently backup catching duties will go to Pozo in the meanwhile. The 27-year-old made his large league debut with the Rangers again in 2021 however hasn’t appeared within the majors since. He bought into 21 video games with Texas that 12 months, hitting an honest .284/.312/.378 in 77 plate appearances alongside the way in which. Within the years since then, Pozo has been serving as a depth choice for the Rangers, Athletics, and now Cardinals on the Triple-A stage and has accomplished nothing however rake whereas doing so. In 329 video games throughout 5 seasons on the Triple-A stage, Pozo has slashed a powerful .321/.343/545. Whereas he can’t be moderately anticipated to put up something near that within the majors, his sturdy work on the highest stage of the minors does recommend he could possibly provide some pop in his bat, making him a strong accomplice for Pages behind the plate whereas Herrera is out.
