He is not scheduled to catch for Memphis, nor do the Cardinals plan to put him behind the plate for any significant action for the remainder of the 2025 season as they look to protect the slugger’s lower body while keeping his bat in the lineup.
“We have to definitely keep that in mind as far as if we want to keep him healthy for the remaining couple months,” manager Oliver Marmol said. “We’ve talked about that. We haven’t come up with, like, ‘This is exactly what it will look like,’ but we’re pretty close to [not catching].”
Herrera, 25, has had a breakout season at the plate derailed by two separate injuries to his left leg. He suffered a bone bruise in his knee on April 6 in Boston when attempting to run from first to third base on a base hit, and then strained his hamstring on June 19 in Chicago when rounding first base after a hit against the White Sox.
Between the injuries, Herrera has slugged eight home runs and driven in 36 runs, powered by a .320 batting average and a .925 OPS that are far and away the team’s best totals by everyday position players.
He has also, at times, displayed some struggles behind the plate. Opposing baserunners have stolen 15 bases against him this season without once being thrown out. Last year, Herrera allowed 55 steals and caught only four would-be swipers. At the same time, the Cardinals have praised the skills of Pedro Pagés behind the plate, especially in terms of his ability to work with the pitching staff.
Pagés now figures to remain the team’s starter for the rest of the year, with Yohel Pozo penciled in as the backup. The Cardinals haven’t yet decided upon pursuing a permanent position change for Herrera, who has only appeared at catcher and DH in the big leagues. He has just eight recorded starts at any other position; all eight were at first base for his native Panama in the Caribbean Series between 2021-24.
“I’d like to just finish the year with that being the case and then we can re-evaluate, but I wouldn’t go much past that,” Marmol said.
