How the Cardinals handle Pedro Pages will bring clarity to the catching situation

The St. Louis Cardinals needed to use the 2026 season to find out answers on their roster and have to be satisfied about what they learned at basically every spot. Even if what they found out was bad news, gaining clarity if more than what the team could say in the previous two seasons.

Going into a cold and potentially groundbreaking winter, the Cardinals know what they have in their first four spots in the batting order, who they can rely on in to stay healthy and consistent in the starting rotation, and who will get the first crack at which openings remain. The organization attempted to get a headstart on the last few vacancies in September, giving guys like Quinn Mathews, Cooper Hjerpe, Joshua Baez, and Leo Bernal their first taste of the majors.

Next season, the Cardinals would like to get their final answers on the remaining vacancies and they can start clearing the path to do so this offseason. Currently, rookie catcher Leo Bernal has been extremely impressive since making his debut and he has leapfrogged the rest of the backstops in the system to be option 1a for 2027. This season, the catching alignment was a three-headed monster but Bernal has turned that setup into a traditional starter and backup situation. That could potentially spell the end of the line for one or more of the organization's catchers.

Pedro Pages could be the catalyst for the Cardinals next move at catcher

To kick off the 2026 season, the Cardinals opted to roll with Ivan Herrera, Pedro Pages, and Yohel Pozo as the team's catchers. This was done with the understanding that Pages and Herrera would create a near-equal split of time behind the plate while Pozo was expected to be used for late game offense. The Cardinals were committed to this set up for an extremely long time (read: too long) before finally calling upon Jimmy Crooks to give the lefty backstop a chance to grab the starting role.

This happened as the Cardinals slipped from the top of the standings and Herrera's throwing arm continued to be an issue. The Crooks promotion then created a Crooks-Herrera-Pages trio behind the dish, with Pages slipping into a seldom-used role on the bench. This continued until Crooks struggled to make contact and Bernal could no longer be ignored in Memphis and the Cardinals made the swap of the two, keeping Herrera and Pages in their same roles.

Unlike Crooks, Bernal took the opportunity and is now penciled in as the catcher of the future. Behind the switch-hitter, Crooks performed well again in Memphis while Rainiel Rodriguez continued his ascent to being a top prospect in all of baseball. With this level of depth in the organization, the Cardinals may be better off boding farewell to one of them in order to fill other roster holes and keep uncontested opportunities for the next great Cardinals team. Based on the return to contention timeline and future projection, Pages may be the first to go.

With Pages, however, it currently appears as if the value he brings to the young Cardinals' pitching staff is higher than what we could return on the trade market. Pages is a defense-first, 28-year-old catcher who has a career 75 wRC+ and took a major step back with the bat in a split role this season. Even as the offense and pitching struggled while Crooks and Bernal played well in Memphis, the Cardinals were unwilling to give up on Pages in the bigs.

Bernal's progression, Crooks' potential, and Rodriguez tearing up the minors may spark a different tune this winter, however. Because of this talent and Pages seemingly reaching his ceiling, he provides little extra value to the big league roster. What the front office does with Pages could show what they want to do with everyone else. If Pages is dealt out of the organization, they could opt to have Crooks be the backup to the switch-hitting Bernal. If Pages sticks around, Crooks could end up being a trade candidate with Pages supporting Bernal in a rarely-used role again. How this happens, then, could trickle down to Rodriguez and we may see him add another glove or two to his equipment bag.

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