The Cardinals tried to kick off a youth motion this winter, letting veteran gamers like Paul Goldschmidt, Kyle Gibson, and Andrew Kittredge depart in free company whereas making an attempt to commerce different veteran items beneath longer-term group management. Sadly for St. Louis, none of these trades got here to move: Willson Contreras and Sonny Grey each declined to waive their no-trade clauses, whereas Nolan Arenado expressed a willingness to waive his for sure golf equipment however no deal finally got here collectively.
That’s left the membership trying similar to final 12 months, however even with a largely equivalent roster there stay some areas the place the membership can keep on with its preliminary plans. Contreras has been a catcher for his whole profession, however entered 2025 figuring out at first base forward of what’s anticipated to be a full-time transfer away from his duties behind the plate this 12 months. With Contreras changing Goldschmidt at first, that opens up the catcher place for a younger participant to step in and declare the beginning catcher job as their very own. The Cardinals have two candidates for that function: Ivan Herrera and Pedro Pages.
Herrera, 24, has already spent components of three seasons within the majors after a number of years as a well-regarded catching prospect. His cups of espresso within the majors in the course of the 2022 and ’23 seasons had been restricted to only 24 video games and 66 plate appearances, however he obtained a extra strong have a look at the massive league stage this previous 12 months and made the many of the alternative. In 259 journeys to the plate throughout 72 video games final 12 months, Herrera hit a powerful .301/.372/.428 (127 wRC+). He confirmed first rate pop and pace with 5 homers and 5 stolen bases in roughly a 3rd of a full season’s slate of at-bats and complemented that with a strong understanding of the strike zone, as proven by way of his 20.5% strikeout charge and 9.7% stroll charge.
A large .370 BABIP is unlikely to be repeated over a full season, however his strong 8.9% barrel charge and the aforementioned plate self-discipline numbers counsel Herrera has the bat to be a strong hitter within the majors, and even perhaps properly above common for the catcher place. Herrera has been a mean to under common defender behind the plate thus far in his MLB profession, nonetheless, with a lackluster arm that he pairs with common framing and blocking numbers. For a Cardinals membership that struggled to make the adjustment from defensive stalwart Yadier Molina to bat-first slugger Contreras behind the plate, it could hardly be a shock if the membership most popular a extra strong defender.
Enter Pages. The 26-year-old made his MLB debut with the Cardinals final 12 months and obtained practically the identical quantity of enjoying time as Herrera did with 68 video games and 218 plate appearances. Whereas he was equally under common to Herrera when it got here to throwing out runners in 2024, his pop time to second base was within the seventy fifth percentile of catchers final 12 months in line with Statcast, whereas Herrera’s was in simply the twenty seventh percentile. That means extra room to develop relating to controlling the operating recreation, and Pages additionally charges out as a greater pitch framer than Herrera with equivalent blocking numbers.
These stronger defensive numbers may make Pages a gorgeous choice as a daily behind the plate to a Cardinals group that has lengthy appreciated the worth of a powerful glove, however his offensive numbers may maintain him again. Pages pales compared to Herrera as a hitter, with a slash line of simply .238/.281/.376 (83 wRC+) final season. Whereas Pages confirmed spectacular energy with seven homers in simply 218 journeys to the plate, he additionally struck out at an elevated 26.6% clip whereas strolling solely 6% of the time. That residence run complete additionally is perhaps deceptive about his general offensive ability set, as properly. Whilst Pages managed to ship extra balls over the fence than Herrera did in fewer plate appearances, his 4.8% barrel charge was dwarfed by Herrera’s aforementioned 8.9% barrel charge, indicating that it was really Herrera who made the strongest contact extra persistently final 12 months.
After all, it’s additionally doable that the Cardinals may select to not decide to both teenager as a real starter behind the plate, as a substitute working on a timeshare that’s nearer to 50-50. Stepping out of the standard starter-and-backup setup behind the plate may afford each gamers the chance to claim themselves as regulars, permitting efficiency to extra naturally dictate enjoying time over the course of the season and past. Which may come on the expense of consolation for the membership’s pitchers if who’s behind the plate is incessantly altering on a day-to-day foundation, however one doable answer to that will be to have every catcher work with a sure group of beginning pitchers so as to ease their defensive burden from a planning and game-calling perspective whereas additionally affording these starters some stage of consistency concerning who their battery mate is.
How do MLBTR readers suppose the Cardinals will method the catcher place this 12 months? Will they prioritize Herrera’s larger ceiling and higher bat, Pages’s stronger defensive status, or accept a timeshare involving each children? Have your say within the ballot under:
