5 front office missteps that defined the 2024 Cardinals

The distrust of Ivan Herrera

Ivan Herrera looked to have the job as Willson Contreras' backup catcher locked up to begin the season. But as the season has worn on and Contreras has battled a litany of injuries throughout the year, the Cardinals have made it clear that they prefer Pedro Pages behind the plate, leaving Herrera in a questionable position.

Herrera has proven that his bat can play at the major league level, but the Cardinals have been reluctant to let him play regularly behind the plate, as they left him in Triple-A when Contreras returned from his broken arm, choosing to keep Pages up instead.

The Cardinals are desperate to control the running game, and Herrera has thrown out only three of 48 attempted basestealers. Pages, though, hasn't been much better, nailing 10 of 51 base thieves. This small discrepancy isn't enough to justify playing Pages over Herrera given that Herrera is a significantly superior hitter to Pages, with a .707 OPS compared with Pages' .658 OPS. The role of the pitchers in allowing stolen bases can't go overlooked either, as many bases are taken off of the pitcher rather than the catcher.

It's possible that pitchers simply prefer throwing to Pages over Herrera, but when your most pressing concern throughout the season has been offense, it's more important to bolster the lineup with the most thump possible.

Many teams in the league would likely love to use Herrera in a major league catching role, but the Cardinals have appeared committed in 2024 to starting an inferior hitter who provides only a slightly better arm behind the plate than his hitting-adept counterpart.