Cardinals Must Decide If Herrera Fits Long Term with Defensive Limitations

Growth, as St. Louis Cardinals’ manager Oliver Marmol pointed out repeatedly over the final month of the 2026 season, can be measured in a variety of ways.

One way, of course, is the standings – an area where the Cardinals fell back a win from 2025 (78-84) to 2026 (77-85), one that was somewhat expected with the widespread youth on the roster and the club selling off veteran pitchers JoJo Romero and Dustin May for prospects at the MLB Trade Deadline.

Instead, the Cardinals tried to evaluate areas of growth in non-traditional ways in a non-traditional season in St. Louis.

Growth was having a defined core group of players – Alec Burleson, Jordan Walker, JJ Wetherholt, Ivan Herrera, Masyn Winn, Michael McGreevy, Kyle Leahy and Riley O’Brien – take major steps in their games and evolve into building blocks.

Growth was seeing Leo Bernal, Joshua Baez, Quinn Mathews, Cooper Hjerpe and Nathan Church live up to the hype that followed them from the Minor Leagues and show signs they can be depended on going forward.

Growth was Andre Pallante and Gordon Graceffo shaking off the struggles of 2025 and showing the fortitude to change the trajectory of their careers.

“This is a really young group, but there’s been a lot of progress with so many of these guys,” Marmol said. “You can go up and down the lineup and you see growth from so many of our guys. Then, go to the rotation and what McGreevy, Pallante and Leahy did this season, and the bullpen as well. Our staff has really enjoyed pouring into that group. They are hungry for information and they want to be coaches, so that’s made it a lot of fun.”

However, as president of baseball operation Chaim Bloom reminds, the Cardinals still have major gulfs between them and MLB’s top teams. The National League champion Brewers, after all, finished 26 games ahead of St. Louis and battered the Cards in 11 of 13 head-to-head meetings. Much more growth is needed for the Cards to better navigate the difference the rebuilding and contending.

With growth being the focus, let’s look back at the performances by individual players in the 2026 season and how they will figure into the Cards’ plans going forward in 2027 and beyond:

Player name: Ivan Herrera

Age: 26

How acquired: Signed by the Cardinals as an international free agent on July 7, 2016

2026 statistics: 161 games, .241/.353/.382/.735, 98 runs, 146 hits, 26 doubles, one triple, 19 home runs, 69 RBI, 138 strikeouts, 76 walks, eight stolen bases in eight tries.

Key numbers: Herrera tied a 116-year-old record – set previously by Steve Evans in 1910 – when he was hit by 31 pitches during the season. Prior to 2026, Herrera had never been hit by more than 15 pitches. Consequently, he led the Cardinals in on-base percentage at .353.

Looking back to 2026: The Cardinals made having Herrera in their lineup a priority, and he played a career-best 161 games. However, there were stretches where it seemed as if Herrera could have used some time off to spark his lagging bat. He made the MLB All-Star Game – as a replacement for the injured Shohei Ohtani – but it was hardly his finest season at the plate. Herrera hit just .241 with an OPS of .735 – drops of 43 and 102 points. He did finish with a flurry and boosted his home run total to 19 by season’s end. Some of the offensive dropoff could be attributed to Herrera devoting more of his time to catching more as he worked 52 games behind the plate. While he committed just three errors and had only one passed ball, Herrera continued to struggle badly at controlling the running game.   

Looking forward to 2027: Even though he is one of their best hitters – and they need offense after finishing 29th in OPS in 2026 – the Cardinals could look to move on from Herrera because he doesn’t fit anywhere other than designated hitter. He is an adequate receiver of the ball, but he threw out just one of 38 base stealers this past season. When he threw out Reds’ superstar Elly De La Cruz on Aug. 17, it was the first base stealer he had retired since September of 2024. Even more alarming was Herrera arm strength dropping after having an offseason procedure to clean out loose bodies in his right elbow. His throws to bases averaged just 76.6 mph – well below the 85.8 mph that rookie Leo Bernal averaged on his throws or even the 81.1 mph averaged by Pedro Pages, who had MLB’s third-best caught-stealing percentage at 31 percent.   

Denton’s analysis: Herrera is a huge asset to the Cardinals with the way he gets on base, scores runs and can drive the baseball in clutch situations. The fear that he puts into pitchers is very much needed on a Cardinals’ offense that ranked last in the National League in slugging and OPS. However, on a team that values positional versatility, Herrera doesn’t have a position where he can play on an everyday basis. The Cardinals must decide if he brings the team enough value as their every-day designated hitter and a third catcher. His bat might be their best trade tool while trying to fortify their starting pitching staff and their bullpen. Do they move Herrera in the offseason? It’s not likely, but the club certainly consider such a move because of his defensive struggles.