Cardinals keeping Herrera fresh, bat available with catcher, DH rotation

ST. LOUIS -- In a Cardinals lineup that never saw the light of day on the field at Busch Stadium on a rainy Tuesday evening, Nolan Gorman was slated as the designated hitter with recently recalled infielder César Prieto scheduled to play third base.

The lineup was never rolled out because the game was postponed, but it revealed insight into how the Cardinals coaching staff manages its roster to maximize the effectiveness of several key players.

Regularly a third baseman, Gorman has been the de facto DH for games started by Andre Pallante and Michael McGreevy. That rotation has served the team with multiple benefits, as those have also been the days that have typically seen Iván Herrera behind the plate as starting catcher.

After multiple trips to the injured list last season relating to lower body injuries, Herrera also had an offseason surgery on his right throwing elbow, designed to improve the utility of his throwing arm. Although the potency of his bat had been solidified as his headlining trait in 2025, Herrera still valued his ability to produce as a big league catcher.

But with a history of lower body issues and uncertainty over the degree to which he could improve his effectiveness in throwing out base runners post-elbow surgery, the Cardinals’ path to giving Herrera the chance to prove himself as a catcher -- after he had already demonstrated the vitality of his bat to the daily lineup -- was tricky.

So, the Cardinals concocted the schedule to allow for Herrera to ramp up behind the plate. The results have been productive.

“I didn't know how the lower half was going to respond to the workload out the gate, right?” Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said before Wednesday’s 6-2 loss to the Brewers. “So, it was one of those things where you do it and you're in conversation and communication, making sure that he's feeling good. Every week that went by, it was clear that the rotation -- the schedule that we had him on -- lent itself to him feeling really good and fresh and able to play every day, which, I think, is best-case scenario.”

Where this blueprint was challenged this week, even before the rainout, was in Ramón Urías hitting the IL on Tuesday afternoon. Gorman’s role in the field runs counter to Herrera’s, with former Gold Glove defender Urías manning the hot corner for the games that Herrera sees at catcher.

That those dates have coincided with the starts of groundball-oriented pitchers Pallante and McGreevy reinforced the benefits of the rotation from not only a health and maintenance angle, but also a competitive one for the Cardinals.

With Urías on the shelf, how his absence would impact things was an open question until Marmol penciled Prieto’s name into that Tuesday lineup.

The unexpected off day meant a tweak to the schedule, with Pallante and the rest of the rotation pushed back by one day. So, Pedro Pagés caught and Gorman played third on Wednesday -- a break to the standard rotation to which the team will return, per Marmol, during the upcoming road trip through San Diego and Sacramento.

An alternative would be for the Cardinals to take the early-season success for Herrera as a catcher as a sign to put more on his plate. But pushing the envelope to expand Herrera’s catching responsibilities beyond the current structure isn’t something the Cardinals appear to be eyeing.

“I don’t think that's necessary, to be quite honest,” Marmol said. “If it was that the only time his bat [would be] in the lineup is when he's catching, then I think you guys should be asking some really hard questions.

“But, I think, because of the rotation, it allows his bat to be in there every day without off-days.”

The other key facet of the arrangement has been the production of the other member of the Cardinals’ catching tandem, Pagés.

Though he didn’t guide Pallante to a victory in the pair’s first link-up of the season on Wednesday, the club holds Pagés’ work ethic and relationship with the pitching staff in high regard.

In games in which Pagés has appeared behind the plate this season, the Cardinals are 15-9.

“The fact that he’s been really good on both sides of the ball allows for us to keep this cadence,” Marmol said. “From a lineup standpoint, it gives us our best chance over 162 [games].”

Pagés contributions have helped to unlock the luxury of Herrera’s measured schedule behind the dish -- accomplishing Herrera’s goals while keeping one of the Cardinals’ most potent bats consistently sharp, and most importantly, available.