The Cardinals’ search for catching clarity continues in 2026

After decades of consistency behind the plate, the St. Louis Cardinals have been cycling through a few catchers since the retirement of icon Yadier Molina. After trying Willson Contreras, the Cardinals have settled on a combination of young backstops with Pedro Pages handling most of the work over the past three seasons. This year, that could be the case again as Pages provides a known commodity for the pitching staff, but the depth of talent in the system could make St. Louis look for more from the position.

The Cardinals look to find their catching future while balancing opportunity and performance

The 2026 season is well known to be a rebuild for the Chaim Bloom-led Cardinals, but the excitement for Opening Day is as strong as ever for the St. Louis faithful. With the formal announcement of top prospect JJ Wetherholt making the big league roster, fans are hoping that, even in a rebuild, there will plenty of fun times on the field. Those positive vibes have gone beyond Wetherholt as the Cardinals have one of the deepest catching talent pools in baseball, with Ivan Herrera and Yohel Pozo rounding out the big league roster and well-regarded prospects Jimmy Crooks, Leonardo Bernal, and Rainiel Rodriguez spread throughout the minors.

Because of the possibilities, the Cardinals can go multiple ways with their catching situation this year. To start the year, it seems as if the team is making good on their offseason promise and allowing Herrera to prove his ability to handle the position, both defensively and from a health perspective. I am on the record of saying this is the correct way to handle the start of the season, and at first sign of injury or defensive incompetence, Pages is there to be that safety net before the next wave of catchers come through. My personal hope is that Herrera can start behind the plate two or three times per week while getting off his feet as the DH the rest of the week. If he is able to continue his offensive production with league-average defensive value as a catcher, he is at minimum gaining All-Star consideration.

If he cannot handle it and Pages becomes the primary catcher again, that would not be the worst situation for this year. What I would like to see in that situation, though, would be for Jimmy Crooks to be called up, as long as he is producing in Memphis, and form a platoon with Pages for the rest of the season. This setup would provide Leonardo Bernal with a starting catcher's workload in Triple-A as he looks to build off of his Gold Glove season in 2025. Bernal's switch-hitting ability should allow him to stay in the lineup against righties or lefties, but he has different hitting profiles from both sides. While he provides better contact hitting as a lefty, Bernal's righty swing provides more power. If his progression as a catcher continues, the Cardinals could find a way to get him to the major leagues later in the year to supplement the Pages/Crooks makeup.

Even while speaking about the catchers, I have not mentioned much of Yohel Pozo, who used the offseason to rebuild his body in hopes of sticking around as a big league backstop. While Pozo's contributions to the Cardinals have been fun and newsworthy, the depth in the system does not provide much stability for his future with the organization. He provides a fine backup catcher and has played first base here and there, but most of his value is from his clutch pinch-hitting and pop off the bench.

Finally, uber-prospect Rainiel Rodriguez will start the season in High-A but all reports show him being the future of the position. With the quality and young talent ahead of him, the Cardinals have no reason to rush him to the big leagues. The Cardinals are not ready to contend in the near future, but by the time Rodriguez is knocking on the door of the big leagues, it could be as a main contributor of a playoff team.

No matter how the season plays out in the standings for the Cardinals, they should get answers in some capacity for their catching future. In the opening stages of a rebuild, getting a read on players' value can only help the decision-making process, and Chaim Bloom will likely wish to find out who is going to be gearing up for the future of the Cardinals.