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Honestly followed him for a while always been a fan. Question is what does he become and what do the cardinals do with him as far a position wise?

What I mean by become is what is the ceiling because he is an outstanding hitter

Welcome to the board. Hope you enjoy.

DH

Give him an OF'ers glove this winter and send J. Jay to work w/him.

Throw him into some spring games next March and see how he handle the OF.

If he flops, then he's your fulltime DH.

The kid's a hitter and made for the DH role if he can't handle the OF (at least as an option, not necessarily FT unless he really takes to it ala D. Murphy when he moved from behind the plate to become a multi GG winning OF'er)!

DH him everyday this year. He's clearly the best power hitter on the team and that bat must play everyday. Hopefully he can learn an OF corner position in the offseason. Welcome to the Cards Talk!!

rockondlouie wrote: ↑13 May 2025 13:14 pm DH

Give him an OF'ers glove this winter and send J. Jay to work w/him.

Throw him into some spring games next March and see how he handle the OF.

If he flops, then he's your fulltime DH.

The kid's a hitter and made for the DH role if he can't handle the OF (at least as an option, not necessarily FT unless he really takes to it ala D. Murphy when he moved from behind the plate to become a multi GG winning OF'er)!

Agree 100% let him play some first base also. The bat definitely will play full time at DH if all else fails. Hes the one guy on the team where I will stop what I’m doing to watch him bat. I also liked after the game other day when I think he had a double and 2 RBI and he commented that he didn’t like that he struck out in the one at bat I like hearing that from a player

I'm not ready to give up on him catching ever again. if the Cards do then they probably know best. But it would be massively beneficial if he can also catch 50 games a year.

Herrera has a potent bat, that is certain. I agree it would behoove the Cardinals to get him an OF glove during the off season and ST '26. Next year he could possibly be the LF, or if he just cannot play OF, remain as DH and emergency C.

Take a long, hard look internally at whether or not he truly has a future at catcher. If not, I guess he's destined for DH/LF in the short term, and perhaps 1B when Contreras moves on, although Josh Kross may have something to say about that.

The good news is that if he has to move off catcher, we have a lot of depth at catcher. But if you have a bat like Herrera and he can play the position at an acceptable level, I would try and keep him there.

Excellent thoughts. He gives every indication of having a plus hit tool with the ability to continue improving. OF/1B are good options over the off season. If Pages continues to show good bat skills then it’d be great to have both in the lineup as much as possible. Need to have WC’s bat as well

What I fear is that moving him around to much can inhibit him in trying to learn to many positions and regress on his hit skills.

Prefer Bloom to figure this out vs Mo messing to much with him now though

Ronnie Dobbs wrote: ↑13 May 2025 13:41 pm Take a long, hard look internally at whether or not he truly has a future at catcher. If not, I guess he's destined for DH/LF in the short term, and perhaps 1B when Contreras moves on, although Josh Kross may have something to say about that.

The good news is that if he has to move off catcher, we have a lot of depth at catcher. But if you have a bat like Herrera and he can play the position at an acceptable level, I would try and keep him there.

agree to a lot of that --- but catcher's hands, knees, wrists, elbows et al take a beating. do you risk the bat he has shown? maybe? a tough choice for sure.

A lot actually depends on how they like Pozo defensively. Pages doesn't have enough of a bat to be primary catcher, but Pozo's bat seems to play and if his defense is acceptable he and Pages can catch until Crooks and/or Bernal are ready (probably 2027), while Herrera plays LF.

If they're not sold on Pozo then I would expect Herrera and Pages to resume catching full-time in 2026, with hopes that Crooks/Bernal is ready 2027.

I’m not sure I believe Herrera is a middle of the order 30+ homer guy long term. If he is moving him to DH is fine. But I think it’s more likely he is a 20 hr .800 OPS type. Which mean he needs to still be working on his defense at catcher. We don’t need another just meh hitter at dh or a corner outfield spot. The Cardinals have had plenty of players that looked great for the sample size we e seen from Herrera.

Ozziesfan41 wrote: ↑13 May 2025 13:25 pm

rockondlouie wrote: ↑13 May 2025 13:14 pm DH

Give him an OF'ers glove this winter and send J. Jay to work w/him.

Throw him into some spring games next March and see how he handle the OF.

If he flops, then he's your fulltime DH.

The kid's a hitter and made for the DH role if he can't handle the OF (at least as an option, not necessarily FT unless he really takes to it ala D. Murphy when he moved from behind the plate to become a multi GG winning OF'er)!

Agree 100% let him play some first base also. The bat definitely will play full time at DH if all else fails. Hes the one guy on the team where I will stop what I’m doing to watch him bat. I also liked after the game other day when I think he had a double and 2 RBI and he commented that he didn’t like that he struck out in the one at bat I like hearing that from a player

Such a difference when you watch I. Hererra swing the bat (DAMAGE) and when you watch J. Walker swing the bat.

rockondlouie wrote: ↑13 May 2025 14:12 pm

Ozziesfan41 wrote: ↑13 May 2025 13:25 pm

rockondlouie wrote: ↑13 May 2025 13:14 pm DH

Give him an OF'ers glove this winter and send J. Jay to work w/him.

Throw him into some spring games next March and see how he handle the OF.

If he flops, then he's your fulltime DH.

The kid's a hitter and made for the DH role if he can't handle the OF (at least as an option, not necessarily FT unless he really takes to it ala D. Murphy when he moved from behind the plate to become a multi GG winning OF'er)!

Agree 100% let him play some first base also. The bat definitely will play full time at DH if all else fails. Hes the one guy on the team where I will stop what I’m doing to watch him bat. I also liked after the game other day when I think he had a double and 2 RBI and he commented that he didn’t like that he struck out in the one at bat I like hearing that from a player

Such a difference when you watch I. Hererra swing the bat (DAMAGE) and when you watch J. Walker swing the bat.

Herrera has explosive hips and hands --- only cardinal hitter i have seen with a similar physical makeup was pujols. Not saying he will ever be that good or even close, but the flashes are there if he works anywhere close to as hard as da mang did.

greyhawk wrote: ↑13 May 2025 14:20 pm

rockondlouie wrote: ↑13 May 2025 14:12 pm

Ozziesfan41 wrote: ↑13 May 2025 13:25 pm

rockondlouie wrote: ↑13 May 2025 13:14 pm DH

Give him an OF'ers glove this winter and send J. Jay to work w/him.

Throw him into some spring games next March and see how he handle the OF.

If he flops, then he's your fulltime DH.

The kid's a hitter and made for the DH role if he can't handle the OF (at least as an option, not necessarily FT unless he really takes to it ala D. Murphy when he moved from behind the plate to become a multi GG winning OF'er)!

Agree 100% let him play some first base also. The bat definitely will play full time at DH if all else fails. Hes the one guy on the team where I will stop what I’m doing to watch him bat. I also liked after the game other day when I think he had a double and 2 RBI and he commented that he didn’t like that he struck out in the one at bat I like hearing that from a player

Such a difference when you watch I. Hererra swing the bat (DAMAGE) and when you watch J. Walker swing the bat.

Herrera has explosive hips and hands --- only cardinal hitter i have seen with a similar physical makeup was pujols. Not saying he will ever be that good or even close, but the flashes are there if he works anywhere close to as hard as da mang did.

That he does, I've noticed the same thing.

Genuine question because I don’t know off hand, but how many players spent years in the minors as 18-20hr .280 hitters with an OPS around .800 and then suddenly became 30+ HR 1000 OPS players?

I’m excited about Herrera, but I feel like people are anointing him way too soon.