Sorting through the Cardinals' catching conundrum

Three games into the spring season, the St. Louis Cardinals have employed three different starting catchers, and every catcher on the 40-man roster, plus those not on that list, has made their Jupiter debut. Every catcher except for one, that is.

Ivan Herrera has yet to play in a Grapefruit League game and the lack of updates regarding his progress from offseason arm surgery may start to raise some alarm bells. While he is still without a timeline to see his first live game action, the rest of the catchers are not waiting for him as they try to stake their claim on a roster spot. Those backstops include Pedro Pages, Yohel Pozo, and Jimmy Crooks, all of whom saw time at the major league level last season, top 100 prospect and minor league Gold Glove winner Leonardo Bernal, and uber prospect Rainiel Rodriguez.

How will the Cardinals sort through their catching depth?

Much of the Cardinals' defensive alignment relies on the health and availability of Herrera, and that lack of clarity is forcing me to adjust my thinking for how Oli Marmol and his staff will put together the starting lineup. Pedro Pages and Jimmy Crooks, who are both known more for their defensive abilities, might have the upper hand in any competition that arises, as the Cardinals have shown a preference for their catchers to be able to manage the game behind the plate and any offense they can provide is a bonus. That setup might be preferred for St. Louis, as it allows for Herrera to focus on his best skill, hitting, while setting up the others behind for success.

I have been vocal about putting Herrera behind the plate this season as long as he is healthy. Now, I am starting to back off that idea as the cloudiness around his progress reminds me a little of Tommy Edman's injury in the 2024 season. Because of this, I am trickling ever so slowly back to slotting Herrera in as the everyday DH for the first half of the season, at minimum, while he works on his defense at another position behind the scenes. I want to stress "behind the scenes" because, while these are the best players in the world, asking someone to hit major league pitching every day and learn another position is a tough task we have seen not pan out in Jordan Walker and Nolan Gorman thus far.

While Herrera has more major league time than these two, it would do the organization and him a favor to make him as comfortable as possible before trotting him out to a new position. With that plan in mind, a starting catching tandem between Pedro Pages and Jimmy Crooks makes sense for this season in particular. Pages got the vast majority of the starts last season, but his offensive production, outside of an unreal month of August, was minimal but he is continuously complimented for his work with the pitching staff. Since Pages is a righty, Crooks could make a great platoon partner for the veteran since Crooks hits from the left side. This setup will allow both catchers to stay involved, while Crooks gets the opportunity to learn the MLB game while balancing the workload of a starting catcher.

This was a major talking point on the most recent episode of Cardinals on My Time, where I had JD Hafron from Locked On Cardinals join Matt Smith and me to sort through this catching conundrum.

Unfortunately, I was outnumbered by JD and Matt when talking about Herrera's catching future, but the three of us did agree that it would be best if Jimmy Crooks found a way to get the majority of the starts after he gets his sealegs underneath him. For the future of the team, this makes the most sense as it allows the team to sort through the guys and dudes behind the plate.

We all felt that Leo Bernal and Rainiel Rodriguez have the highest potential to be in the "dude" category relatively soon. When I asked the duo with me where each of these guys start the season, the conversation turned into what happens with Crooks will sort out the rest. Assuming that Crooks is on the 26-man roster when the team departs Jupiter, that allows Bernal to move up to Memphis and Rodriguez to progress to Double-A Springfield if he's ready. If the team feels that Crooks will benefit from playing every day, that makes things a little messier.

If that option is chosen, splitting time between Crooks and Bernal in Memphis makes little to no sense because they both need to play in order to progress. A playing time split is also difficult because Crooks is a lefty and Bernal is a switch-hitter, so a platoon would be tough. What could happen, is that Pozo becomes minor league depth, Crooks and Pages stay in St. Louis, and Bernal gets the starts in Memphis. We came to the conclusion that this could be best for everyone (minus Pozo) while giving everyone the time they need without rushing them to the next level.

Regardless of what happens when the Cardinals head north to St. Louis, the catching situation is one we will be focused on for the entire year. A lot can happen from now until the Trade Deadline, but the team's performance may force Chaim Bloom's hand one way or another.