5 decisions the Cardinals would make right now if they were serious about a reset

#5 - Play the young bats over defensive first players

No, I am not a "forsake defense for the better offensive option" every time kind of guy, but when there is such a stark difference between the production of two options at a position, that's when I think the Cardinals' preference toward defense needs to be tested.

Let's start with the obvious one - Ivan Herrera should be the primary catcher over Pedro Pages. Gone are the days of catchers starting 140+ games behind the plate, so no I am not advocating for that, but Herrera should get the lion's share of the workload. If the Cardinals flip that in Pages' favor, that would be a foolish choice.

Maybe that is strong language because I really do like Pages. I think he's a starter in this league. Yes, I believe he is probably one of the best 30 catchers in MLB. But Herrera has what it takes to be one of the best, so the Cardinals need to get him the chance to become that.

I know Herrera's defense, well, mainly his arm strength, leaves a lot to be desired. Hopefully, he's been able to improve that this offseason. But even if those strides were not enough, he should still be behind the plate often to try and grow as a defensive catcher.

Oh, and so that bat of his can play!

Herrera only played in 72 games last year for St. Louis. Some of that is due to injury, but some of that is the Cardinals not playing him as well. And yet, he had the best batting average (.301) and xwOBA (.366) and the second-best OBP (.372), SLG (.428) wOBA (.351), and wRC+ (127).

Wait, so you're telling me that an offense that struggled to score runs all year muted the opportunities for their second-best hitter, instead opting to run out a guy who was 17% below average as a hitter?

Yikes.

Oh, and it gets worse. If you compare Herrera to other catches in baseball last year, he led all catchers in average and xwOBA while ranking top three in wRC+ and OBP, top four in wOBA, and top 15 in SLG. Compared to all hitters in baseball with at least 250 plate appearances? Herrera was 13th in average, 21st in xwOBA, 22nd in OBP, and 50th in wRC+.

Translation: Play him as much as you can. And no, not just as a DH. Get him behind the plate early and often.

The other area the Cardinals need to consider a different face at is center field. If Victor Scott II impresses at the plate, it's his job. But if not, there's a different name who should be roaming center field, and that is Lars Nootbaar. If you're reading this and it's past 8:04 am on January 29th, then you can read my 2000+ word write-up on Nootbaar as a center fielder here. If not, just come back here in a bit to check it out. I promise it's worth the read, even if you're someone who thinks Lars Nootbaar is overrated.

Conclusion: Put both feet in the "reset" lane at the Major League level

I focused on all of the things the Cardinals have not done in this story. In terms of their reset, what they've been doing with forming their new front office regime as well as different hires and planned improvements they are making with player development are all worth celebrating. But that is only part of the reset.

If the Cardinals fail to "reset" at the Major League level in these ways, then they really are just taking half-measures with this reset, which is a real shame. If they want to make the most of 2025, the five things I have laid out would be an excellent way to do so.