Ivan Herrera poised to become the Cardinals’ next star in 2026

Most St. Louis Cardinals fans are hyper-focused on the trajectory of top prospect JJ Wetherholt as Opening Day draws near, and for good reason. He very well could cement himself as one of the best young talents in the game in 2026. But let's not forget that the Cardinals already have one of those guys on their roster.

Ivan Herrera.

One of the few bright spots of the 2025 season, Herrera's promising young bat continued to put up big numbers like he had since he debuted, posting career-high marks in almost every offensive category on his way to a 137 wRC+. For his young career, Herrera is a 129 wRC+ hitter in 777 plate appearances, 26th best among hitters with at least 700 plate appearances since 2022.

Now, as Herrera looks to cement himself as a primary catcher on the Cardinals roster, he seems to be on the cusp of cementing his status as a star in this game.

Cardinals' Ivan Herrera is ready to prove he is a star in 2026

The three biggest knocks against Herrera's case as a star right now have to do with sample size, his health, and whether or not he'll find a defensive home. While those are fair critiques, it's not hard to see how he'll calm those concerns in the near future.

First, Herrera has done nothing but hit since he arrived in St. Louis. While Herrera struggled in his 22 plate appearances cup of coffee in 2022, since then, he's posted a 121 wRC+, 128 wRC+, and 137 wRC+ in three consecutive seasons, showing that it's not just a random hot stretch here or there that has boosted his numbers. Now, those are still small sample sizes, as his 452 plate appearances in 2025 were by far the most of his big league career, but I'm not sure anyone is truly concerned about his numbers tanking in 600+ plate appearances seasons.

Herrera's calling card as a hitter right now is his ability to mash left-handed pitching, something that was actually a "weakness" of his before 2025. From 2022-2024, Herrera had an 89 wRC+ against left-handed pitching in a relatively small sample size, but he did post a 130 wRC+ against righties during that stretch. In 2025, Herrera was an above-average hitter against righties (112 wRC+), but turned into an absolute monster against lefties, posting a 1.115 OPS and 205 wRC+ against southpaws during the season. Compared to all platoon advantages in 2025, he ranked third best behind Aaron Judge and Nick Kurtz.

That should be encouraging to Cardinals fans for a number of reasons. Herrera has worked hard to get better against lefties, and that turned him into the second-best hitter in baseball against southpaws in 2025. That's an incredible turnaround, and if Herrera is able to raise his production against righties again, he'll be a top 10 hitter in the sport.

Now, the biggest question mark for whether Herrera can truly get to that star status is his health. Herrera has spent too much time on the injured list, and he then had to have offseason elbow surgery to repair issues that had been hindering his throwing ability. Last season, Herrera missed significant time due to a knee injury and then a hamstring issue, and if he continues to get banged up like that moving forward, it will limit how much he's able to help the Cardinals on the field.

As far as the elbow surgery goes, the Cardinals' hope is that the procedure actually helps Herrera be a viable option behind the plate defensively, which has the ability to raise his ceiling even more as a player. Only Cal Raleigh has posted better numbers offensively among catchers than Herrera, so if Herrera is able to stick behind the plate, we are talking about a top catcher in the sport and, in turn, a potential MVP candidate.

While 2026 is certainly the start of a new era of Cardinals baseball, Herrera remains one holdover from the previous regime that can shape the future of this organization. The Cardinals have others with high ceilings, but Herrera has separated himself from the pack already, and it won't take long for the rest of baseball to recognize how elite a talent he is.