5 burning questions the Cardinals must answer before Spring Training begins

5. How will the Cardinals catching situation shake out?

At Winter Warm-Up this past weekend, site contributor Andrew Wang asked manager Oliver Marmol about the Cardinals' catching dynamic entering the spring, and while it is not necessarily surprising that Marmol did not commit to a starting catcher, it does reiterate the uncertainty that fans feel regarding that situation.

With Willson Contreras moving to first base this offseason, the runway was cleared for both Ivan Herrera and Pedro Pages to run with the catcher position in 2025. Gone are the days when catchers played 150+ games like Yadier Molina did, so no matter how things shake out this year, we should fully expect to see Herrera and Pages out on the field often.

The question really lies with how that split will go. Last year, the Cardinals clearly favored Pages behind the plate, so when Contreras was on the injured list, Pages was the player whose name was called upon to start behind the plate. The Cardinals have major concerns with Herrera's arm strength and ability to manage the run game, and rightfully so, but I do find it interesting that Pages still gave up 61 stolen bases in 542.2 innings compared to Herrera's 55 stolen bases allowed in 469.2 innings.

Marmol and pitchers did allude to a better comfortability with Pages behind the plate compared to Herrera and even Contreras though, and the numbers back that up a bit. In the 66 games Pages played in behind the plate, Cardinals' pitchers had a 3.80 ERA. In the 51 games Contreras caught, that number rose to 4.15 ERA, and with Herrera, it was a 4.20 ERA. There are a lot of variables that go into that though, so I don't think it is fair to say that proves Pages is that much more valuable behind the plate, but it is notable for sure.

On the flip side though, Herrera is head, shoulders, knees, and toes better offensively than Pages has been thus far. In 259 plate appearances in 2024, Herrera posted a .301/.372/.428 slash line, good for a 127 wRC+. Pages, on the other hand, slashed .238./.281/.376, which equates to an 83 wRC+. Herrera was the second-best hitter on the Cardinals by wRC+ in 2024, only trailing Willson Contreras, while only Michael Siani was worse than Pages at the plate offensively for St. Louis.

If the Cardinals want to maximize their future, running Herrera out as their primary catcher and getting him 110+ starts at the position would be setting themselves up for success long-term. That would put Herrera in the top 10 in games started behind the plate in baseball compared to 2024 numbers and would give him every opportunity to develop as a receiver, game caller, and managing the run game.

The Cardinals also have Jimmy Crooks III looming in Triple-A, who some outlets have as a top 100 prospect in baseball right now. The Cardinals would be wise to get answers to their questions regarding Herrera's long-term viability behind the plate now before Crooks breaks onto the scene.