Catcher/designated hitter Iván Herrera, the longest-tenured member of the Cardinals from when he signed with the organization on July 7, 2016, was named an MLB All-Star slightly more than 10 years later on Friday.

Herrera, who is far and away MLB’s leader in hit by pitches this season with 24, was added to the National League All-Star roster on Friday when Shohei Ohtani pulled out of the game with a right knee injury.

Herrera, 26, will be joined by Cardinals’ slugger Jordan Walker, reliever Riley O’Brien and manager Oliver Marmol on the NL squad. Walker, who has 21 homers and a MLB-best 73 RBI, was selected as a reserve, while O’Brien was chosen as an injury replacement. Marmol, who is in his fifth season as the Cards’ manager, will serve as a coach on Dave Roberts’ coaching staff.

“Well-deserved,” Marmol told reporters about Herrera. “He’s worked hard at it. We can sit here and talk about what we see every night on the field, but when you talk about the offseason and the amount of work that he put in from a preparation  standpoint, understanding pitch-calling, understanding his guys, understanding himself and what he needed to improve on – there was a lot that went on behind the scenes.

“It was cool to watch him receive that (All-Star nomination) in front of everybody. He was (surprised).”   

Herrera, who grew up in Panama and idolizing Yadier Molina, remembers watching the current Cardinals guest instructor representing the Cards in the Midsummer Classic. Herrera told Roundtable Sports earlier this season that reaching the MLB All-Star Game would satisfy a life-long dream of his.

“I don’t know if I am anywhere close (to being in All-Star consideration) because I’m nowhere close to where I want to be right now,” said Herrera, who is working to lift more balls and lower his ground ball rate after a slow start to the season. “I would definitely love to go to the All-Star Game, and for me that would be a total dream. I had intentions to go last year but (injuries interrupted his chances). This year, I had the same dreams, but things haven’t gone as I expected.

“But baseball is hard and I’m going to keep pushing and keep trying to improve. But I’m always going to wish that I could go (to the MLB All-Star Game) and I’m going to give 100 percent to make a push for that goal.”

Herrera is the only Cardinals player to appear in all 92 games, and he is in the starting lineup for Friday night’s game against the Braves at Busch Stadium. Keeping Herrera’s bat in the lineup every day was a focus for the Cardinals entering the season and he is on pace to break his career high in games played (107) later this month.

Despite a recent slump at the plate, Herrera is slashing .249/.384/.395/.780 with 14 doubles, a triple, 11 homers, 40 RBI and five stolen bases in as many tries. He ranks 14th in MLB in on-base percentage – largely because of his 51 walks and the 24 hit by pitches.

Through the Cardinals first 86 games, Herrera was tied for second in MLB history in being hit by pitches – trailing only the 25 times that Montreal’s Ron Hunt was hit in 1971. He has been hit seven times more than the next player in MLB (Chicago’s Sam Antonacci, 17) and nine times more than the next closest NL player (Colorado’s Tyler Freeman).

Defensively, Herrera is still very much a work in progress behind the plate. This season, he does not have a passed ball or an error in 303 innings as a catcher. However, he has failed to throw out any of the 26 base stealers who have swiped bags against him. He has allowed 50 straight stolen bases, dating to Sept. 1, 2024 when he threw out then-Yankees star Juan Soto trying to steal second base.

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