Cardinals' preferred catching alignment taking shape early in the season

Early in the offseason, chatter around the St. Louis Cardinals centered around how they would subtract from the major league roster rather than add. Besides high-cost veterans, fans were curious to see if Chaim Bloom would deal from a position group that was young, but talented enough to potentially get some solid assets back in a trade.

The Cardinals' catching situation is taking shape early in 2026.

Because the Cardinals are armed with three top-100 catching prospects in addition to a talented major league group, it made sense on paper for the organization to take advantage of the rest of the league looking for solutions behind the plate. The hope from fans would be that trading a redundant piece (Pedro Pages) or a prospect with less breakout potential (Jimmy Crooks) would return prospects that could fill in the holes around the roster. A Pages trade would not provide as much of a return, but would open up playing time for professional hitter Ivan Herrera as well as allow Crooks to move to the Cardinals' big league squad and split time as he learns the game. A deal involving Crooks could get a higher-profile return but keep Pages on the roster and prevent the youth movement from progressing. At the end of the offseason, all five catchers, plus Yohel Pozo, remain in the organization.

That setup created some questions, like is Ivan Herrera actually going to catch, where will Bernal start the season, and what does Pedro Pages do so well that the team keeps him around? The answer to quetsion one is yes. Question two: Triple-A and split times with Crooks. Question three: still searching for that answer. Regardless of what we fans think, this alignment is the preferred option for manager Oliver Marmol. According to Jeff Jones, Marmol said that Herrera and Pages will split time, with Pozo being the muscle off the bench.

Those that have followed me from the outset of the offseason know that I have been banging the drum to have Herrera maximize his overall player value by giving him a few starts a week behind the plate. That setup has been effective thus far, with Herrera actually outperforming the, in my opinion, overvalued defensively gifted Pages. When Herrera gears up, that has allowed Nolan Gorman to trade in his glove for a day and settle in as the DH, making the lineup deeper than when Pages is catching. In a season that is about learning the most about the players as the Cardinals plan for the future, seeing if Herrera can handle at least a part-time job as a catcher will help guide the path for what comes next for the organization's catching depth.

If Herrera is capable and Crooks continues to develop as a solid receiver, Pages could become expendable, although he would not fetch much on the market. Pages has proven himself to be a solid backup, so that does provide some flexibility to still deal from the minors if the team views that as a path to contention. So far, though, the Cardinals have shown an unrelenting love to Pages, so if he is to be on the roster, chances are he's playing.