Ivan Herrera, Pedro Pages To Split Opportunities Behind The Plate
According to Katie Woo of The Athletic, St. Louis Cardinals catchers Ivan Herrera and Pedro Pages are set to split catching duties in 2025. Earlier this week, it was reported that Willson Contreras would be moved to a first base role and see very little catching opportunities. As a result, fantasy managers should expect Herrera and Pages to see the vast majority of starts behind the dish next summer. Last season, Herrera held a solid .300/.372/.428 slash line with five home runs and five stolen bases. Under the hood he boasted a stellar .369 xwOBA. Pages was a much better defender last season and carried a .238/.281/.376 line in the batter's box. Fantasy managers should monitor their progress during Spring Training but Herrera will likely be better target for fantasy purposes given his offensive upside.
St. Louis Cardinals rookie catcher Pedro Pages is getting a breather on Thursday in the series finale at Busch Stadium against the division-rival Cincinnati Reds in a day game after a night contest. Ivan Herrera is doing the catching for right-hander Sonny Gray and will bat sixth against Reds right-hander Jakob Junis. Pages has been splitting time behind the dish with Herrera with Willson Contreras (finger) on the shelf due to a fractured right middle finger. In his first 57 major-league games in 2024, Pages has been respectable with the bat, slashing .244/.284/.390 with six home runs, 22 RBI and 17 runs scored in 177 trips to the plate. Herrera, meanwhile, has a much better .280 average (56-for-200), but it has come with only three long balls while adding 22 RBI and five stolen bases for the Cards. It remains to be seen if Contreras will be able to return in 2024.
St. Louis Cardinals catcher Pedro Pages continued to produce at the plate in Monday's 9-3 loss to the Brewers. Pages went 2-for-4 with a pair of solo home runs and a strikeout. The 25-year-old crushed a third-inning Freddy Peralta fastball off the back of the Brewers' bullpen wall and later hit a Peralta curveball over the left-field fence. Pages has earned more playing time in the second half of the season with Willson Contreras (finger) on the injured list, slashing .300/.323/.483 in 60 at-bats. The lineup around him may not be enough to allow for serious fantasy contributions, but he is a name fantasy managers could keep an eye on if they desperately need a hot bat behind the plate.
The St. Louis Cardinals have recalled catcher Pedro Pages from Triple-A Memphis to work as the backup to Ivan Herrera after Willson Contreras was placed on the IL. Pages was penciled into the eighth spot in the lineup Wednesday night before the game was postponed due to rain. The game will be made up August 5, so we'll see who gets the start Thursday against the Brewers and RHP Tobias Myers. Pages offers little fantasy relevance at this point, although he's got some power as he hit 16 home runs in 2023 over 117 games at Double-A, and he posts solid BB% numbers which provide a solid OBP. The 25-year-old does have four major league plate appearances, however, whenever he does draw a start it will be his first in the big leagues.
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