Cardinals Young Star Ivan Herrera Headed to Injured List with Knee Injury

Herrera had to be helped off the field with the assistance of his manager Marmol and Cardinals head athletic trainer Adam Olsen. In a video shown by the St. Louis broadcast after break, Herrera was unable to put any weight on his left leg as he made his was off the field and into the Cardinals dugout. 

The 24-year-old catcher had been a bright spot in what was supposed to be a tumultuous 2025 campaign in the Mound City. Across 22 plate appearances in the young season, Herrera was slashing .381/.458/.1.048 with four home runs and eleven runs batted in before his injury put a pause on his season. 

The young Cardinal notebly hit three home runs in one game last week, becoming the first catcher in the franchise's 144 season history to achieve the feat. His eleven RBIs is also tied for eighth most in Major League Baseball this season. 

St. Louis will likely turn the everyday catching duties over to Pedro Pagés. The 26-year-old from Venezuela replaced the injured Herrera in game one on Sunday, going 2-for-4 with two doubles and three runs batted in after entering the matchup. 

He followed up that performance later in the night by going 0-for-5 with two strikeouts. 

Another question posed after the injury was who would fulfill the backup role for St. Louis going forward. During the MLB GM Meetings in November of last season, it was announced that former starter Willson Contreras would transition primarily to first base and designated hitter in 2025. 

Cards President of Baseball Operations John Mozeliak said during the meetings that it was "unlikely" that Contreares would catch much following the position change, according to St. Louis Post-Dispatch writer Derrick Goold.  

Herrera's move to the IL left Pagés as the only primary catcher on St. Louis' 40-man roster, but Marmol told reporters Yohel Pozo will meet the team in Pittsburgh to join the team. Since Pozo is not on the 40-man roster, the club will have to make a move to add him to the roster when Herrera offically hits the injured list. 

Whatever the 40-man move ends up being, we'll have to see it at some point on Monday afternoon. The Cardinals are set to take on the Pirates at 5:40 p.m. CT in the Steel City.