Cardinals Catcher Ivan Herrera Injures Knee, Avoids Serious Injury

Ivan Herrera Likely Heading to Injured List

Herrera is likely to be placed on the IL on Monday, according to a report from John Denton with MLB.com. The Cardinals are describing the injury as knee irritation. In a corresponding move, the Cardinals are expected to call up Yohel Pozo, who was signed to a minor league deal with the organization this offseason.

Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol told the ESPN broadcast during the second game of Sunday’s doubleheader that Herrera appears to have avoided a serious injury. Marmol told the broadcast that the imaging Herrera had done came back clean. He said the 24-year-old catcher will spend some time on the IL, but that it isn’t anything serious.

Red Hot to Start the Season

Herrera was one of the hottest hitters in baseball to start the season. The catcher was tied for the fourth most home runs in the National League with four and the fifth most RBI with 11. He is slashing .381/.458/1.048. Going into Sunday, Herrera was leading the National League in OPS at 1.555.

Of players with at least 20 MLB at-bats this season, Herrera ranks fifth in barrel percentage. He is finding the optimal combination of exit velocity and launch angle 33.3 percent of the time he makes contact. Herrera is also in the top 40 MLB hitters for average bat speed this season at 74.6 miles per hour.

For a Cardinals team that is performing very well at the plate so far this season, Herrera has been a central figure in that success.

A Good Second Option

To add insult to injury on Sunday, the Red Sox swept the Cardinals in the doubleheader. One of the bright spots was the play of Pedro Pages coming on in place of Herrera in game one. Pages hit two doubles for three RBI to put the Cardinals ahead 4-2 by the ninth inning. Though the Red Sox would end up winning the game in extra innings, Pages showed he can be a clutch bat the team may need.

The 26-year-old was already splitting time with Herrera this season. Pages is seen as the better defensive option at catcher. Though at the plate, Pages has shown he can be a threat as well. So far this season, Pages is slashing .316/.319/.632 in 19 at-bats. The right-hander has had a home run and three doubles in the limited time.

The team is confident in Pages’ ability to take an everyday role. Calling up Pozo also shows the Cardinals’ commitment to keeping longtime catcher Willson Contreras away from his old position. Heading into the season, Marmol described the possibility of Contreras catching this season as something the team will only do in an emergency.