Ivan

Herrera

With the Cardinals facing a left-handed starting pitcher for the second day in a row, Burleson will take a seat for the second straight day. Lars Nootbaar will be starting in left field and Ivan Herrera will start at DH.

Herrera knocked a base hit in the second inning and scored on a double by Thomas Saggese. He later doubled to lead off the sixth and scored again on a single by Pedro Pagés. Herrera reached for a third time with a walk in the eighth. The 24-year-old backstop has stepped in nicely for the injured Willson Contreras, hitting .297/.365/.414 with four homers, 36 runs scored, 26 RBI, and five steals across 250 plate appearances.

Being that there’s two weeks left in the season, we can all do the math on this one. Contreras finishes the year at .262/.380/.468 in 84 games. It goes down as the highest OBP and OPS+ (136) of his career. Pedro Pages and Iván Herrera will finish out the year as the Cardinals’ catchers.

It sounds like this is a true fracture for Contreras, not just one of the hairline variety. That would typically mean 4-6 weeks or maybe a bit longer. Contreras is a quick healer, but at best, he probably won’t return until the final week. Pedro Pagés and Iván Herrera will share catching duties in the meantime.

Herrera was called up on Sunday to replace Willson Contreras (finger) but it was thought that he might be a backup behind Pedro Pages due to Pages’ defensive value. That doesn’t appear to be the case, and Herrera could be worth a short-term add in two-catcher formats.

Herrera is up with Willson Contreras officially placed on the injured list with a fracture finger. Herrera will likely see the majority of starts now with Pedro Pages also getting some time behind the dish. He’s worth roster consideration for those in need of a backstop.

The hard-hitting 24-year-old backstop had been shelved since June 19 due to tightness in his back. He’ll continue to play in an everyday role at Triple-A for the time being with Pedro Pages continuing to serve as the primary backup behind Willson Contreras at the big-league level.

Herrera, out since June 19 with back tightness, is 3-for-10 with two homers and four walks on his rehab assignment. The Cardinals love Pedro Pagés defense behind the plate, so it’s unclear if Herrera is going to have a role with the team once he’s activated. It’d be a shame if not, since he’s probably one of the club’s five-or six-best hitters.

Herrera heads to the injured list after missing the last couple games for St. Louis due to a lingering back issue. It’s not a significant development for the Cardinals since rookie Pedro Pagés has pretty much overtaken Herrera for the starting catching duties. It shouldn’t be much longer before Willson Contreras (forearm) is back from the injured list, so it’s possible Herrera’s time in the majors is over for now.

Pagés has started five of the last six contests for the Cardinals since Iván Herrera made a costly throwing error last weekend against the Rockies that led to a couple runs crossing the plate. It’ll only be a few weeks until starter Willson Contreras is ready to return, but it’s certainly a developing situation to continue monitoring in deeper two-catcher formats.