Pedro

Pages

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.

Pages’ home run was his sixth of the year. He hit a two-run shot off Logan Gilbert in what was otherwise a scoreless game. The clutch two-run shot was the biggest hit of the year for the backup backstop. Pages is hitting .245 with a .683 OPS and 22 RBI on the year.

Pages now has five home runs on the season. He hit a solo shot off Freddy Peralta in the third inning and another one in the fifth inning. Pages is hitting .250 with a .686 OPS and 20 RBI in 148 at-bats this year.

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.

Baker will make his season debut after hitting .231/.345/.535 with 32 homers in 108 games for Memphis. That’s pretty good, but it pales in comparison to the .334/.440/.720 line he put up at the same level last year. We assume he’ll mostly be used as a DH against lefties, though that’s typically been Willson Contreras’s role of late. Contreras might be asked to do more catching now, reducing the role of Pedro Pagés.

Contreras caught both games of the doubleheader Saturday so it’s no surprise to see that he gets a day off for the finale against his former team. Pedro Pages is the starting catcher with Nolan Arenado the designated hitter and Brandon Crawford manning the hot corner.

Pages gave the Cardinals a 2-1 lead with his double to score Mike Siani. The backstop has hit just .194/.259/.333 thus far in 2024, and he isn’t going to get enough playing time — nor play well enough when he’s in — to suggest as a fantasy option.

Pagés is your run-of-the-mill backup catcher who’s getting an opportunity to mix in for St. Louis with the injury to Willson Contreras. He doesn’t play enough to be fantasy relevant despite some solid numbers in the upper minors.

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.