5 burning questions the St. Louis Cardinals are nowhere close to answering

The St. Louis Cardinals have had an up-and-down start to the 2025 season but have to be encouraged by the consistent offense that has been on display since making the move north from Jupiter. After a series sweep on opening weekend, the Cardinals lost the next series before their first road trip of the year. The first stop in Boston was unforgiving to the pitching staff, as the team was swept by the Red Sox prior to their first NL opponent and division matchup against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

John Mozeliak is out as the main decision-maker for the Cardinals after this season, setting up Chaim Bloom to get his hands on an organization in need of a major revamp. Mozeliak's presence limits Bloom's ability to start the process, which also creates a lack of clarity in the direction the club is going. Before Opening Day, I wrote about questions that the Cardinals must answer during 2025, but the first week-plus of the year has created more that must be answered sooner than later.

With Mozeliak still at the helm, what questions remain before the Bloom era begins?

1. What is the long-term plan at catcher?

Ivan Herrera's powerful start to the season has created a larger discussion about the Cardinals' current catching tandem and what manager Oli Marmol needs to prioritize when setting the lineup every day. Going into the season, it seemed there would be a constant question of offense or defense when making the batting order, but Herrera's power surge over the past week makes it difficult to say that he should not be in the lineup on a daily basis. However, Herrera has played in seven of the team's nine games, and the main reasoning behind this split with backup catcher Pedro Pages focuses on Herrera's inability to control the running game.

Even after Herrera spent the offseason at Driveline to work on his throwing, opposing teams are still choosing to run on Herrera and have been successful in all seven of their stolen base attempts. This has put Marmol in a tough spot when setting either the starting lineup or making late-game decisions, and the manager has shifted towards a defensive mindset early in games where the Cardinals lead, which has caused a split among fans for what choices he should make and when. The inability to control the running game is not just on Herrera, with the pitchers not doing their jobs to hold runners. Pages was originally scheduled to start Saturday's game against the Red Sox with Andre Pallante on the mound even though Herrera had hit his fourth homer of the season a day before, but bad weather scratched that plan. With a doubleheader Sunday and a lefty on the mound, Herrera drew the start in the first game, and Pages geared up for the nightcap.

In a scene that nobody wanted to see during the first game of the twinbill, Herrera left the game with an apparent leg injury after running the bases, and the Cardinals are scheduling additional testing. Early reports say that the catcher may have avoided serious injury, but fans will be watching closely for how quickly he can get back into the lineup after his initial IL placement. This brought Pages into emergency duty, and he did his best to pick up where Herrera left off. Pages hit two doubles and picked off a runner in another heartbreaking extra-inning loss after blowing the lead in the ninth. While Pages is nowhere near the offensive player that Herrera is, he did have a nice spring at the dish and started the 2025 season off with six hits, including three doubles and a homer. Without another catcher on the 40-man roster, Pages will probably be the main catcher while Herrera is out.

The question about the Cardinals' catching situation expands beyond these two backstops even though they are both in their mid-20s. Waiting in Triple-A is 23-year-old Jimmy Crooks, who has the potential to be an everyday catcher next season, if not sooner. Crooks is rated as an above-average defensive player and has shown his ability to handle the bat at each stop in the minors so far. He just missed out on MLB.com's top-100 prospect list and currently slots in as the organization's #4 prospect, taking on the starting spot at Memphis. Defensively, he has thrown out over 29% of potential base-stealers, which easily surpasses each of Herrera and Pages.

Behind Crooks are two more catchers who rank in the organization's top 10, with switch-hitting Leonardo Bernal (#7) handling the pitchers at Double-A Springfield and Rainiel Rodriguez (#8) maturing in the lower levels. If Herrera's defensive issues persist and Crooks continues performing in Memphis, the Cardinals may have to look deeper into Herrera's future outlook behind the plate. Willson Contreras' presence at first base makes a move there improbable in the short term, and I am usually against the idea of moving a young player to a full-time DH role until other options have been explored. This will be a situation to monitor throughout the entire season as long as everyone keeps hitting and the news on Herrera's injury is nothing severe.