Re: Herrera would like to return to catching
Posted: 22 Aug 2025 18:56 pm
I am curious as to the Cardinals plans at catcher. Bernal might be the best of the bunch, all around.
No one gives a [shirt] about your curiosity
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He can't do either...hit like he did for a brief moment, or catch good enough part timeIndCard75 wrote: ↑22 Aug 2025 20:02 pm No doubt Herrera struggled bad as a catcher but if he could improve to at least be good enough to catch part time, say 60 games, and hit like he was earlier in the season that would really help the team in other areas. For example then you could put Gorman at DH so he’s not making throwing errors from 3B.
Personally I’m not a huge fan of Herrera in the OF. We already have Walker Scott Burly Noot and Donovan(assuming Wetherholt is 2B next year)potentially playing OF. I would tell Herrera to learn 1B in off season. Him or Gorman goes to 1B when Contreras is gone.
Hopefully Bloom is able to construct a better roster this offseason.
Ok. I believe you. I just don’t recall the story. I wonder why he thinks it’s still a good idea to keep pursuing a catcher job. I guess it has better job security than DH.Youboughtit wrote: ↑22 Aug 2025 18:17 pmHe did that all last off season and it failed. He struggles at framing and throwing. He supposedly worked with an arm strength coach last off season and it became worse. He’s done as a C. DH onlyBrockFloodMaris wrote: ↑22 Aug 2025 10:41 amThe reason he is DHing and playing LF is that he’s not a very good catcher. If he works his tail off in the offseason and comes to ST 2026 and beats out the other catchers, then he can start at catcher. It’s a fairly simple equation.Talkin' Baseball wrote: ↑22 Aug 2025 10:37 amSpeaking from a defensive aspect, he's probably not one of the top 5 catchers in the organization.Basil Shabazz wrote: ↑22 Aug 2025 10:33 amHe has mentioned in recent interviews that he still wants to catch, and he still wants to be considered a catcher. He follows that up by stating he will play where he is asked and will do anything to help the team.
They actually said that he was told he was not catching the remainder of the year to protect him with his health concerns he had. They said Marmol and the Cardinals haven't ruled him returning to C next year and he would still like to.Melville wrote: ↑22 Aug 2025 18:23 pmApparently, Herrera himself does not understand it.JuanAgosto wrote: ↑22 Aug 2025 17:29 pm That guy can forget everything being a starting catcher. His defense is terrible back there. Even oli understands this.
And that is very troublesome as it shows a shocking lack of awareness and great ignorance on his part.
It also very much calls into question his commitment and dedication to learning a new position.
"Me first."
Clearly has been paying attention to Wainwright, Molina, Arenado, Nootbaar, and others.
TOXIC CULTURE.
Excellent post!!cardstatman wrote: ↑22 Aug 2025 21:20 pm Despite the wisdom of the echo chamber that we call CardsTalk, I won't be surprised to see Herrera do more catching in the future.
If he can be adequate at catcher, he makes the lineup so much better... assuming we have another guy who hits well at DH.
Not all teams run and even the best average one stolen base per game. Many successful stolen bases are stolen off the pitcher, rather than the catcher.
I don't see him as the primary catcher though. I'm pretty sure the Cards have won more than half the games where he has been the catcher for the majority of the innings so we can't pretend he's been causing the Cards to lose games. If he's a backup catcher, you could simply not use him when you are playing the best running teams.
Also, it is clear that Pallante, Fedde, King, Lynn, Fernandez, VerHagen, Kittridge were awful at keeping runners from getting running starts. Maybe they needed to up their part of the game or be ousted.
I don't understand why a forum that tolerates the defense of Gorman, Walker, Burleson can't stand the thought of Herrera at catcher for some innings. He's no Molina but he's adequate at everything except throwing out base stealers. The Cards also play in a division of running teams; The Brewers, Reds, and Cubs are 3 of the top 5 teams in MLB in stolen bases over the past few years.
I think the group think that Herrera can't catch is more about the prospect hype of Crooks and Bernal and the desire to clear out a path for them.
rockondlouie wrote: ↑22 Aug 2025 10:40 am Nooooooooooooooo way in h e l l he's going to be the catcher in 2026 w/Crooks, Bernal etc....... coming fast.
He's either going to learn how to play the OF or be a DH.
And he also better worry about his hitting, which has slipped since he returned on 7/13:
142 PA's
.242 .326 .306 .633
Rule changes...2 throws over, larger bases. Slow to the plate pitchers. Did it in the minors.tubastarr wrote: ↑23 Aug 2025 07:02 am I’m wondering how he progressed all the way through the minor league system as a catcher and got promoted to the major league team as a catcher when he is so poor at the position. THEN they try him in the outfield at the major league level? Is this another example of the mess the Cardinals’ organization has become?
Herrera has played 1b a few games over his career through minots and majors unlike outfield which is complete new to him as he hadnt played it since at least like age 14 so 1b probably wouldnt be that hard for him in comparison. But contreras has 2 more years. And burleson likely moves to 1b when contreras is goneIndCard75 wrote: ↑22 Aug 2025 20:02 pm No doubt Herrera struggled bad as a catcher but if he could improve to at least be good enough to catch part time, say 60 games, and hit like he was earlier in the season that would really help the team in other areas. For example then you could put Gorman at DH so he’s not making throwing errors from 3B.
Personally I’m not a huge fan of Herrera in the OF. We already have Walker Scott Burly Noot and Donovan(assuming Wetherholt is 2B next year)potentially playing OF. I would tell Herrera to learn 1B in off season. Him or Gorman goes to 1B when Contreras is gone.
Hopefully Bloom is able to construct a better roster this offseason.
Yes.tubastarr wrote: ↑23 Aug 2025 07:02 am I’m wondering how he progressed all the way through the minor league system as a catcher and got promoted to the major league team as a catcher when he is so poor at the position. THEN they try him in the outfield at the major league level? Is this another example of the mess the Cardinals’ organization has become?
That was indeed part of the propaganda.Cardinals4Life wrote: ↑23 Aug 2025 00:04 amThey actually said that he was told he was not catching the remainder of the year to protect him with his health concerns he had. They said Marmol and the Cardinals haven't ruled him returning to C next year and he would still like to.Melville wrote: ↑22 Aug 2025 18:23 pmApparently, Herrera himself does not understand it.JuanAgosto wrote: ↑22 Aug 2025 17:29 pm That guy can forget everything being a starting catcher. His defense is terrible back there. Even oli understands this.
And that is very troublesome as it shows a shocking lack of awareness and great ignorance on his part.
It also very much calls into question his commitment and dedication to learning a new position.
"Me first."
Clearly has been paying attention to Wainwright, Molina, Arenado, Nootbaar, and others.
TOXIC CULTURE.