Cardinals Insider Reveals Team's Stance On Promoting Top Prospect

The St. Louis Cardinals' offense got off to a historic start, although it hasn't translated to wins in recent days.

One of the biggest reasons why the Cardinals' offense has been cooking has been the performance of young slugger Iván Herrera. The 24-year-old catcher has shined to open the season as he's been given a new opportunity, but now he will be on the shelf for at least four weeks due to a bone bruise.

The Cardinals called up Yohel Pozo and he crushed a home run in his first game with the Cardinals and his first overall game at the big league level since 2021. That's a pretty great story and he will at least stick around with the club in the short term.

With Herrera out, it unsurprisingly led to some questions on social media about whether or not No. 4 prospect Jimmy Crooks could end up being an option in Herrera's absence as well.

The Athletic's Katie Woo shared that at least right now the team prefers "not to rush" the prospects up, including Crooks.

"We asked (John Mozeliak) this earlier and he said he would prefer not to rush anyone up, including Crooks," Woo said when asked about Crooks. "With (Pedro Pagés) set for the majority of starts in Herrera’s absence, Cards are viewing this roster spot as a true back-up catcher role. Pozo makes the most sense here, for now."

Crooks is the team's No. 4 prospect on MLB.com and has an estimated big league arrival time of 2025. It wouldn't be a shock to see him debut at some point this season, but he has played in just four games so far this season in the minors. His time will come, but it seems like in the short term we are going to see plenty of Pagés and Pozo until Herrera is able to get back on the field.