Why Ivan Herrera remains an important part of the Cardinals future

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Ivan Herrera remains a part of the Cardinals' future

When St. Louis Cardinals President of Baseball Operations John Mozeliak began the off-season insistent on the club acquiring a new starting catcher, many began to write off the future of Ivan Herrera with this organization. For the past few years, Herrera was seen as the heir apparent to Yadier Molina, but clearly, the club did not view him as their catcher for 2023.

Not only is he not the projected starting catcher next season, but with Willson Contreras coming in on a 5-year contract, the club is hoping that he can be their guy through the 2027 season. Although Contreras has a good bat, you do not hand him a 5-year deal without at least the hope that he can remain behind the plate for the duration of the deal.

So, where exactly does Herrera's role with the club come in? Although 2023 may not be much different than 2022 for Herrera's spot on the Major League roster, the Cardinals would be wise to continue to invest in him for the foreseeable future.

With age, Contreras will likely split more of his reps at catcher

Sure, the ideal scenario is that Contreras can be the club's primary catcher, being behind the plate 120+ games a year. If that happens, no one will be complaining that the Cardinals' held onto insurance options. But should Contreras need to take a step back from catching that often, and fall more in line with many teams around the league by catching closer to 100 games, the Cardinals will need a quality backup option.

Knizner entered his first year of arbitration this off-season, and the club may be motivated to move on from him as he approaches free agency. Knizner has been a fine backup option, but the club would certainly like to upgrade if they can. Herrera provides the clearest way to do so without looking outside the organization once again.

Catchers are notorious for developing slower than other positions. Not only does Herrera have to keep his bat up to par with the level he is playing at, but he must manage playing the most difficult position on the field and navigate new pitching staffs each season. I'm not saying Herrera will break out into a star here soon, but to write him off after one brief stint in St. Louis would be a mistake.

Ivan Herrera remains a promising option

Looking at his stats from 2022, Herrera only had 22 PA at the big league level. With the way many of us talk about him, you'd think he caught half the games and showed no promise. That just was not the case.

In 65 games for Triple-A Memphis, the 22-year-old slashed .268/.374/.396 with 6 HR and 34 RBI. With six years of club control remaining, not turning 23 until after the season kicks off, and still showing promise both at and behind the plate, Herrera is not a piece to sell low on for St. Louis. Think about how frustrating it was to see many of Yadier Molina's backups play over the years. Herrera has a chance to give the Cardinals a nice option off the bench, something many contending teams in baseball have aimed to do with their rosters in recent years.

In a deep Cardinals farm system, Baseball America still had Herrera as the club's #8 prospect, and noted that he was "pushed aggressively over the past two seasons". Herrera, if anything, has performed above expectations until last year, so 2022 and 2023 are opportunities for his bat and receiving skills to catch up to the Triple-A and Major League levels.

He is still graded at having a 60-rated hit tool, and they noted that his improvements in exit velocity show he could have average raw power as well. Is he the prospect some made him out to be a year or two ago? Not necessarily, but he still has a bright future behind the plate as an offensive first catcher.

Herrera will have internal competition outside of Knizner to compete with as well. Pedro Pages made his way up to Triple-A in 2022, and the club just signed Tres Barrera to a minor-league deal as well. Leonardo Bernal is still years away from the Major Leagues but is impressing more and more and could be a factor long term.

Regardless, the club will have Herrera every opportunity to compete with Knizner for a spot on the MLB roster, and they are eager to see if he'll take a step forward in his development in 2023.

Chip Caray is the Cardinals new play-by-play announcer . dark. Next

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Ivan Herrera remains a part of the Cardinals' future

With age, Contreras will likely split more of his reps at catcher

Ivan Herrera remains a promising option

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