Ivan Herrera is one of baseball’s top hitters, but the St. Louis Cardinals’ defensive positioning will have a significant impact on the rest of their squad.
Herrera, who has worked hard to improve his performance behind the plate after rising through the Cardinals’ system as a catcher, still has a serious problem with his arm strength, which is significantly below average. Nevertheless, his bat is simply too good to be left out of the starting lineup every day. Herrera is slashing .308/.385/.458 in his major league career entering Saturday’s matchup, good for a 138 wRC+. That ranks 14th in all of baseball among batters with 400 or more plate appearances since 2022.
With Herrera, the Cardinals are now at a crossroads. Do they focus more on his offensive worth and commit to him largely as a designated hitter, or do they keep developing him as a catcher, maybe making him one of the finest all-around players in the game?
Any choice they make will have an impact on the whole squad, particularly on some of their younger left-handed batsmen.
Once the Cardinals commit to a direction with Herrera, it will have major implications for the future of multiple young players on their roster
The designated hitter position becomes available to other enticing hitters like Alec Burleson and Nolan Gorman if the Cardinals decide to make Herrera their main catcher. Finding consistent at-bats for either, let alone both, becomes more challenging if Herrera stays in the DH position the majority of the time.
In any case, Herrera will now get more opportunities at DH because of the Cardinals’ depth at catcher and the quality of his hitting. Herrera probably only catches 100–110 games annually, even if he were a main catcher, and they need his hitting in the lineup more frequently than that. However, Burleson or Gorman might start in the lineup for the additional 100+ games he has been behind the plate.
However, if Herrera is a major DH, catching occasionally but playing as the designated hitter 75% or more of the time, then it means that other players will have to fill that DH place for around 40 games, give or take. Additionally, that excludes days when other regulars like Willson Contreras, Brendan Donovan, and Lars Nootbaar could get off their feet.
Assume Herrera is selected by the Cardinals to be their future designated hitter. These are a few of the consequences.
Due to their need to find playing time at other positions or their lack of a regular role, Alec Burleson and Nolan Gorman frequently miss out on starting at DH.
Burleson might replace Jordan Walker as one of the team’s corner outfielders, but I don’t think the Cardinals are prepared to make such a big sacrifice with long-term effects. And unless Willson Contreras decides he wants out of town, first base will only be a spot start option for him, especially if Willson can’t start at DH often now either.
The future of Walker and Nolan Arenado would have an impact on Gorman’s trajectory toward playing time. Brendan Donovan can return to the outfield, and Gorman can play second base, if the Cardinals decide to bench Walker but still want Gorman to play. Gorman will go to third base if the team decides to move Arenado.
Although the Cardinals are not required to let go of Burleson or Gorman, it is possible that they may be traded at the deadline or in the upcoming offseason if their routes to playing time are obstructed.
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The main conclusion, however, is that the Cardinals’ long-term perception of Herrera is more important than how Burleson and Gorman fit into the picture right now. Great if they want to use him as a catcher. Then it makes it easy to fit Burleson and Gorman in. However, regardless of how it affects those left-handed bats, they should be the primary designated hitter (or even another position) if they think that’s what’s best for him and his bat. Even though I’ve like Burleson’s play over the last two years and still think Gorman has potential, Herrera’s upside is simply too exceptional to put anything other than his needs first.
