Cardinals urged to make strange catcher decision amid offensive breakout

One of the storylines of the St. Louis Cardinals' season has been the offensive breakout of a few of their younger players. While players like Brendan Donovan and Alex Burleson are in the midst of great seasons, neither is the player of interest in 2025. That honor belongs to catcher and designated hitter Ivan Herrera.

In 2024, Herrera had a very strong season at the plate, hitting .301 with a .800 OPS. He was getting on base consistently and even had a few extra-base hits. But, there was reasonable doubt that his production would continue, as his previous two years weren't as impressive offensively.

But in 2025, Herrera has gotten even better. His .315 batting average, .389 on-base percentage, and .534 slugging percentage make up an incredible .923 OPS, which is the highest among all players on the Cardinals, regardless of how many at-bats they have.

While Herrera has been incredible as a hitter, he's struggled defensively as a catcher, allowing 12 stolen bases across 13 games. But, despite his defensive struggles, Scott Plaza of Redbird Rants on Fansided called for the team to move him to the full-time starting catcher spot by trading away Pedro Pages.

"His trade value is probably not high enough to receive any franchise-altering players." Plaza writes. "But he could receive a capable prospect who the Cardinals could hope to strike gold with."

Pages is 26 years old and in his second MLB season. While he is fairly young and has team control, he hasn't been a huge presence at the plate, either behind it or alongside it. Pages is batting just .216, and has a .612 OPS. His defensive metrics are solid, but considering the Cardinals need more offensive firepower, having Herrera at catcher would provide significant upside.

While sending Pages away might cause the defense at catcher to regress, if Herrera continues to hit the way he has as a catcher, the Cardinals would have one of the best offensive catchers in the league. With the Cardinals likely not competing for a World Series in 2025, taking a chance with Herrera behind the plate is a risk worth taking.

If he can learn to be an average catcher, the Cardinals could put together one of the most dangerous lineups in baseball. Catchers typically don't have high offensive upside. But Herrera would be among the best catchers in the league offensively. It'd be a risky move, but if it works, it could set the Cardinals up for success for years to come.