ramfandan wrote: ↑09 May 2026 06:48 am
Oli is working this to perfection so far. Hererra is the SECONDARY catcher with Pages his PRIMARY . Oli himself said he wanted to use Ivan H.a couple times per week to 10 days to spell Pages behind the plate. Unless a catcher is Johnny Bench, Molina, Seattle's Raleigh many catchers get 120 games or so with a secondary guy getting 40 approximately. We know that Herrera is used for McGreevy for Michael M. likes Herrera calling the game for him . Yes, the throwing to 2nd is an issue but if McGreevy keeps pitching well with Ivan behind the plate, the number of throws is minimal and less important than calling a great game for McGreevy. So you weigh the two factors.
Gorman goes to DH when Ivan goes behind the dish. Hoping that his replacemnt eventually could be more productive as a spot player in those games.
PS The catcher situation down the road may change if Crooks is deemed ready for St. Louis roster. Rodriguez for 2027 may make an impact regarding Pages spot.
^^^THIS^^^
And as we saw just last night he HITS better when he's catching vs DHing:
Herrera when catching:
61 PA
.370 .525 .565 1.090
Herrera when DHing:
113 PA
.209 .354 .352 .706
The only explanation I can come up w/is he's more focused when catching and not so much when sitting on the bench.
scoutyjones2 wrote: ↑09 May 2026 06:13 am
6.7% Caught stealing percentage as an MLB catcher
83 stolen, 6 caught
Beware the Jabberrwock my son
He is not a complete catcher or even close.
No offense, but so what?
He’s hitting .263 .414 .423 for the season with a 141wRC+. That wRC+ is 4th best among qualified catchers in MLB. He has a 212 wRC+ when catching, which is best on MLB. That’s after the rough 14 game stretch at the beginning of the season in which he was hitting .184 and slugging in the .200s because he was not right after coming back from an abbreviated spring training.
He can’t throw anyone out. That’s about it. He also had offseason surgery on his elbow, so there’s hoping he might get better from where he is now. My opinion was that if he can’t handle the grind behind the plate, then they need to move him out of catcher, but it seems that they’ve been conscious of his work load, so that is good.
But he can change a lineup when he’s catching. You keep doing what they’re doing with him.
ramfandan wrote: ↑09 May 2026 06:48 am
Oli is working this to perfection so far. Hererra is the SECONDARY catcher with Pages his PRIMARY . Oli himself said he wanted to use Ivan H.a couple times per week to 10 days to spell Pages behind the plate. Unless a catcher is Johnny Bench, Molina, Seattle's Raleigh many catchers get 120 games or so with a secondary guy getting 40 approximately. We know that Herrera is used for McGreevy for Michael M. likes Herrera calling the game for him . Yes, the throwing to 2nd is an issue but if McGreevy keeps pitching well with Ivan behind the plate, the number of throws is minimal and less important than calling a great game for McGreevy. So you weigh the two factors.
Gorman goes to DH when Ivan goes behind the dish. Hoping that his replacemnt eventually could be more productive as a spot player in those games.
PS The catcher situation down the road may change if Crooks is deemed ready for St. Louis roster. Rodriguez for 2027 may make an impact regarding Pages spot.
^^^THIS^^^
And as we saw just last night he HITS better when he's catching vs DHing:
Herrera when catching:
61 PA
.370 .525 .565 1.090
Herrera when DHing:
113 PA
.209 .354 .352 .706
The only explanation I can come up w/is he's more focused when catching and not so much when sitting on the bench.
You can also say it's 'focus' in the sense that catching allows him to focus LESS on hitting, thus reducing pressure at the plate.
ramfandan wrote: ↑09 May 2026 06:48 am
Oli is working this to perfection so far. Hererra is the SECONDARY catcher with Pages his PRIMARY . Oli himself said he wanted to use Ivan H.a couple times per week to 10 days to spell Pages behind the plate. Unless a catcher is Johnny Bench, Molina, Seattle's Raleigh many catchers get 120 games or so with a secondary guy getting 40 approximately. We know that Herrera is used for McGreevy for Michael M. likes Herrera calling the game for him . Yes, the throwing to 2nd is an issue but if McGreevy keeps pitching well with Ivan behind the plate, the number of throws is minimal and less important than calling a great game for McGreevy. So you weigh the two factors.
Gorman goes to DH when Ivan goes behind the dish. Hoping that his replacemnt eventually could be more productive as a spot player in those games.
PS The catcher situation down the road may change if Crooks is deemed ready for St. Louis roster. Rodriguez for 2027 may make an impact regarding Pages spot.
^^^THIS^^^
And as we saw just last night he HITS better when he's catching vs DHing:
Herrera when catching:
61 PA
.370 .525 .565 1.090
Herrera when DHing:
113 PA
.209 .354 .352 .706
The only explanation I can come up w/is he's more focused when catching and not so much when sitting on the bench.
Opponents are stealing 1 base every 15.1 innings. I can certainly live with that with the offensive numbers he's putting up. I'm sure his pitchers can live with that too.
ramfandan wrote: ↑09 May 2026 06:48 am
Oli is working this to perfection so far. Hererra is the SECONDARY catcher with Pages his PRIMARY . Oli himself said he wanted to use Ivan H.a couple times per week to 10 days to spell Pages behind the plate. Unless a catcher is Johnny Bench, Molina, Seattle's Raleigh many catchers get 120 games or so with a secondary guy getting 40 approximately. We know that Herrera is used for McGreevy for Michael M. likes Herrera calling the game for him . Yes, the throwing to 2nd is an issue but if McGreevy keeps pitching well with Ivan behind the plate, the number of throws is minimal and less important than calling a great game for McGreevy. So you weigh the two factors.
Gorman goes to DH when Ivan goes behind the dish. Hoping that his replacemnt eventually could be more productive as a spot player in those games.
PS The catcher situation down the road may change if Crooks is deemed ready for St. Louis roster. Rodriguez for 2027 may make an impact regarding Pages spot.
^^^THIS^^^
And as we saw just last night he HITS better when he's catching vs DHing:
Herrera when catching:
61 PA
.370 .525 .565 1.090
Herrera when DHing:
113 PA
.209 .354 .352 .706
The only explanation I can come up w/is he's more focused when catching and not so much when sitting on the bench.
Opponents are stealing 1 base every 15.1 innings. I can certainly live with that with the offensive numbers he's putting up. I'm sure his pitchers can live with that too.
He's a horrible thrower, been pointing that out since he was first called up.
But like you said huck we can live w/it when he's putting up a 1.090 OPS while catching.
Just never start him vs teams that run wild (aka the Brewers!).
ramfandan wrote: ↑09 May 2026 06:48 am
Oli is working this to perfection so far. Hererra is the SECONDARY catcher with Pages his PRIMARY . Oli himself said he wanted to use Ivan H.a couple times per week to 10 days to spell Pages behind the plate. Unless a catcher is Johnny Bench, Molina, Seattle's Raleigh many catchers get 120 games or so with a secondary guy getting 40 approximately. We know that Herrera is used for McGreevy for Michael M. likes Herrera calling the game for him . Yes, the throwing to 2nd is an issue but if McGreevy keeps pitching well with Ivan behind the plate, the number of throws is minimal and less important than calling a great game for McGreevy. So you weigh the two factors.
Gorman goes to DH when Ivan goes behind the dish. Hoping that his replacemnt eventually could be more productive as a spot player in those games.
PS The catcher situation down the road may change if Crooks is deemed ready for St. Louis roster. Rodriguez for 2027 may make an impact regarding Pages spot.
^^^THIS^^^
And as we saw just last night he HITS better when he's catching vs DHing:
Herrera when catching:
61 PA
.370 .525 .565 1.090
Herrera when DHing:
113 PA
.209 .354 .352 .706
The only explanation I can come up w/is he's more focused when catching and not so much when sitting on the bench.
Opponents are stealing 1 base every 15.1 innings. I can certainly live with that with the offensive numbers he's putting up. I'm sure his pitchers can live with that too.
He's a horrible thrower, been pointing that out since he was first called up.
But like you said huck we can live w/it when he's putting up a 1.090 OPS while catching.
Just never start him vs teams that run wild (aka the Brewers!).
Devil's advocate...he's a career .897 ops (3-7, 3rbi this season) v MIL. He can start anywhere he wants when playing the Crew
ramfandan wrote: ↑09 May 2026 06:48 am
Oli is working this to perfection so far. Hererra is the SECONDARY catcher with Pages his PRIMARY . Oli himself said he wanted to use Ivan H.a couple times per week to 10 days to spell Pages behind the plate. Unless a catcher is Johnny Bench, Molina, Seattle's Raleigh many catchers get 120 games or so with a secondary guy getting 40 approximately. We know that Herrera is used for McGreevy for Michael M. likes Herrera calling the game for him . Yes, the throwing to 2nd is an issue but if McGreevy keeps pitching well with Ivan behind the plate, the number of throws is minimal and less important than calling a great game for McGreevy. So you weigh the two factors.
Gorman goes to DH when Ivan goes behind the dish. Hoping that his replacemnt eventually could be more productive as a spot player in those games.
PS The catcher situation down the road may change if Crooks is deemed ready for St. Louis roster. Rodriguez for 2027 may make an impact regarding Pages spot.
^^^THIS^^^
And as we saw just last night he HITS better when he's catching vs DHing:
Herrera when catching:
61 PA
.370 .525 .565 1.090
Herrera when DHing:
113 PA
.209 .354 .352 .706
The only explanation I can come up w/is he's more focused when catching and not so much when sitting on the bench.
Opponents are stealing 1 base every 15.1 innings. I can certainly live with that with the offensive numbers he's putting up. I'm sure his pitchers can live with that too.
He's a horrible thrower, been pointing that out since he was first called up.
But like you said huck we can live w/it when he's putting up a 1.090 OPS while catching.
Just never start him vs teams that run wild (aka the Brewers!).
Devil's advocate...he's a career .897 ops (3-7, 3rbi this season) v MIL. He can start anywhere he wants when playing the Crew
But I get what you're saying, Rock.
No doubt, he will always be the DH vs the Brewers who he does seem to hit well.
But I'd start Pages (32% success rate) vs them to deter their MLB leading running game.
The entire pitching staff gave up one hit and two walks. Not much stealing yesterday. I hope he improves is rate of throwing stealers out, and he will be just fine.
ramfandan wrote: ↑09 May 2026 06:48 am
Oli is working this to perfection so far. Hererra is the SECONDARY catcher with Pages his PRIMARY . Oli himself said he wanted to use Ivan H.a couple times per week to 10 days to spell Pages behind the plate. Unless a catcher is Johnny Bench, Molina, Seattle's Raleigh many catchers get 120 games or so with a secondary guy getting 40 approximately. We know that Herrera is used for McGreevy for Michael M. likes Herrera calling the game for him . Yes, the throwing to 2nd is an issue but if McGreevy keeps pitching well with Ivan behind the plate, the number of throws is minimal and less important than calling a great game for McGreevy. So you weigh the two factors.
Gorman goes to DH when Ivan goes behind the dish. Hoping that his replacemnt eventually could be more productive as a spot player in those games.
PS The catcher situation down the road may change if Crooks is deemed ready for St. Louis roster. Rodriguez for 2027 may make an impact regarding Pages spot.
^^^THIS^^^
And as we saw just last night he HITS better when he's catching vs DHing:
Herrera when catching:
61 PA
.370 .525 .565 1.090
Herrera when DHing:
113 PA
.209 .354 .352 .706
The only explanation I can come up w/is he's more focused when catching and not so much when sitting on the bench.
As usual, you are on to something.
It has always been difficult for position players to hit as a DH, when splitting time too much time between that and playing a position.
Take a look at the OTHER Cardinal who is doing the same split duty this year.
Gorman as a DH: 49 PA, .163/.245/.188/.431
Gorman as 3B: 79 PA, .266/.326/.494/.820 (note: the most productive 3B in MLB).
Your explanation is insightful.
Simple solution. Pages can't move behind the plate. Herrera at this point scuffles to throw. They are so close in defensive skills you play Ivan. That way you have a Catcher that can hit. Allowing a hitter to play DH. You gain a hitter that way.
Basil Shabazz wrote: ↑09 May 2026 10:27 am
Herrera has been just fine behind the plate.
+1 people have to complain about something even though he has a better catching ERA than pages I’m still waiting on McGreevy to revolt against Herrera catching like Mel said he would lol
ramfandan wrote: ↑09 May 2026 06:48 am
Oli is working this to perfection so far. Hererra is the SECONDARY catcher with Pages his PRIMARY . Oli himself said he wanted to use Ivan H.a couple times per week to 10 days to spell Pages behind the plate. Unless a catcher is Johnny Bench, Molina, Seattle's Raleigh many catchers get 120 games or so with a secondary guy getting 40 approximately. We know that Herrera is used for McGreevy for Michael M. likes Herrera calling the game for him . Yes, the throwing to 2nd is an issue but if McGreevy keeps pitching well with Ivan behind the plate, the number of throws is minimal and less important than calling a great game for McGreevy. So you weigh the two factors.
Gorman goes to DH when Ivan goes behind the dish. Hoping that his replacemnt eventually could be more productive as a spot player in those games.
PS The catcher situation down the road may change if Crooks is deemed ready for St. Louis roster. Rodriguez for 2027 may make an impact regarding Pages spot.
^^^THIS^^^
And as we saw just last night he HITS better when he's catching vs DHing:
Herrera when catching:
61 PA
.370 .525 .565 1.090
Herrera when DHing:
113 PA
.209 .354 .352 .706
The only explanation I can come up w/is he's more focused when catching and not so much when sitting on the bench.
i forgot where i saw it but there was a statistical analysis that players that dh and play the field twnd to hit a little better on days they play the field rather than dhing. now part of that is that sometimes guys are just dhing cuz they are injured, but it seems playing the field may keep players more engaged.
long term though, i dont exlect herrera to stick at catcher. i knkw he wants to catch as its basically been his position hes always played since he was in high school, but besides his issues throwing runners out, hes had some leg and knee injurjes and his bat is too valuable. he played some 1b and outfield this spring but i guess that was just to get him ready for emergency use, but i really think he should transition to one of those longterm.
