Young Cardinals Slugger Compared To Future Hall-of-Famer Albert Pujols

The St. Louis Cardinals have won 11 of their last 12 games and are five games above the .500 mark entering Saturday's game against the Kansas City Royals.

At 25-20, they are just one game back of the Chicago Cubs for the top spot in the National League Central. Leading the way for them has been young catcher-turned designated hitter Ivan Herrera.

Herrera, 24, had three hits and four RBI on Friday night as St. Louis dispatched Kansas City 10-3 to win the series opener.

His hot start even prompted former Cardinals writer Bernie Miklasz to draw comparisons to future Hall-of-Famer Albert Pujols, who played 12 seasons in St. Louis.

"Miklasz didn't mention Pujols by name, but his comment on Herrera being similar to 'a guy I met for the first time in 2001' and his subsequent attempts to caution people from getting too out over their skis about the 24-year-old made it abundantly clear that he was comparing Herrera to El Hombre," J.T. Buchheit of Redbird Rants wrote on Saturday.

To be in the same company as Albert Pujols is certainly a high honor, but to even be mentioned in the same sentence as him is important in and of itself.

While Herrera may not have the same power as Pujols, he's off to a red-hot start, and his stats could be even better if he didn't miss a month with a knee injury.

He comes into Saturday's game hitting .419 with five home runs, 18 RBI and a 1.387 OPS.