Iván Herrera’s bat was the difference in the Cardinals' salvaging game three of their series against the Tigers by a score of 5-3 Sunday night at Comerica Park. But once again, his time behind the plate was limited over the weekend.
To be fair, catcher Pedro Pagés added an RBI of his own during the Cardinals’ four-run top of the fifth inning, but it was Herrera’s line drive into the right-field grass that gave St. Louis a two-run lead over the Tigers, which ended up being the difference in the contest.
“Iván with that big hit,” right fielder Jordan Walker said elatedly to NBC’s Ahmed Fareed when picking his player of the game. “That was a backside single, two runs, that was sick. I’ll give it to Iván for sure.”
In some ways, that reflects the club's current catching dilemma. Pagés provides some meaningful moments, but Herrera’s ultimate impact and upside behind the plate is undeniable.
The Cardinals have repeatedly pointed to Pagés’ steady defensive presence as a big reason for his grip on the starting role over the past two seasons. But there was a drastic difference between the defensive excellence behind the plate for Detroit and Pagés’ own struggles as St. Louis’ backstop.
Every time Tigers catcher Dillon Dingler tapped the top of his head on Sunday to signal an ABS challenge, you knew he was about to swipe a strike for Detroit. Dingler was 4/4 on challenges in the series finale. Pagés, on the other hand, missed another challenge call on a ball 2.4 inches outside the zone in the bottom of the second inning. Pagés also struggled to control the running game, short-arming a throw to second base that missed the chance to nail Parker Meadows on his sixth-inning steal.
Early in the 2026 season, Pagés ranks 51st out of 54 catchers in ABS overturns vs. expected and last in ABS runs vs. expected behind the plate, according to Baseball Savant. Herrera, on the other hand, ranks 26th and 24th in those same respective categories.
In a season where the future takes priority, how the Cardinals handle Herrera’s reps at catcher is a prime example of the tension manager Oliver Marmol faces when crafting his lineup. Last year, Herrera’s struggles defensively behind the dish and nagging injuries caused the Cardinals to remove catching duties from him. St. Louis worked with Herrera to get him back to catching this year, but he’s only caught three of their first nine games.
But according to Marmol, slow-playing Herrera’s deployment behind the plate has more to do with keeping him healthy than their confidence in him handling catching duties.
“It’s not just checking some boxes that allow him to catch more, it’s progressing that so he can continue to stay healthy,” Marmol told MLB.com prior to Saturday’s game in Detroit. “So part of it is not just, ‘Is he calling a better game, throwing better, controlling the running game and therefore workload drastically increases?’
“I think we have to be smart about how that workload gets increased in order to have him healthy for an entire season. But up to this point, I feel like he’s done a really nice job behind the plate. There is a reason for everything he is doing back there from a game-calling standpoint, and that’s what earns you trust from [coaching] staff, pitching staff and bullpen.”
Keeping Herrera healthy is priority No. 1, but the Cardinals would be wise to keep seeing what he can do behind the plate as they weigh the future of that position organizationally. With multiple top prospects waiting in the wings who look to be strong backstops, St. Louis needs to know how serious an option Herrera is.
Early returns on Herrera's defense this year have been very positive. Marmol has repeatedly spoken about his command behind the plate, and the numbers early in the year seem to back that up. Still, he needs more reps to prove he can run with the position.
There are no questions regarding how good Herrera’s bat is. Since 2024, Herrera ranks first among catchers with a minimum of 500 plate appearances in average (.287) and on-base percentage (.372), while coming in second in wRC+ (132) and sixth in slugging percentage (.445).
Chasing upside is the name of the game for the Cardinals in this stage of the rebuild. Increasing Herrera’s opportunities behind the plate, barring health concerns, is the best way for Marmol to do that this season.