ST. LOUIS – There is a scenario where the Cardinals could potentially open the 2026 season with three different starting catchers in the first three games.

After Pedro Pagés started the Opening Day 9-7 win over the Rays, Iván Herrera got the nod on Saturday with right-handed pitcher Michael McGreevy on the mound. On Sunday, with newcomer Dustin May scheduled to start against the Rays, the Cardinals could open with Yohel Pozo behind the plate as the starter.

Herrera, who underwent surgery to remove loose bodies from his right elbow in the offseason and battled knee pain in Spring Training, almost assuredly won’t be back behind the plate on Sunday in the final game of the series. With former Cardinal Steven Matz scheduled to start for the Rays on Sunday, the Cardinals will likely try and get the right-handed bats of Pozo and Herrera into the lineup.

“It doesn’t need to be that way, but mathematically yes it could be (three starting catchers in three games),” Cardinals’ manager Oliver Marmol admitted prior to Saturday’s game. “I think it is (important to get players into games early in the season) if it lines up that way – not just for the first three (games), but over the homestand. I tend to look at it that way.”

The Cardinals primary focus, of course, is helping Herrera weather the heavy workload of catching early in the season. Herrera, 25, is almost universally considered to be the most complete hitter in the Cardinals lineup and a player who holds All-Star potential in 2026. All of that promise, of course, depends on the Panama native staying healthy following an injury-marred 2025 season.

Despite being limited to just 107 games because of a knee injury suffered early in the 2025 season in Boston, Herrera still slashed .284/.373/.464/.837 with 19 home runs and 66 RBI. The elbow pain that he experienced, and the knee injury led to him catching just 14 games in 2025.

Herrera was adamant that he wanted to return to the catching position in 2026 despite the club’s dalliances with him as an outfielder and a designated hitter last season. Still, the Cardinals want to limit his reps behind the plate early in the season to try and ensure he stays healthy enough to remain in the lineup more than the 107 games he appeared in last season.

“I want to kind of make sure Herrera gets through today and see how he recovers (physically) on Sunday,” Marmol said of Herrera, who had a key RBI sacrifice fly as a DH in Thursday’s win. “We also need to look at what the workload looks like (in Saturday’s game) because sometimes the nine innings are a simple nine and sometimes you have five innings that feel like 10. So, that’s something we want to keep an eye on.”

Another issue of concern with Herrera behind the plate is his struggles in controlling the running game of foes. In the 56 games he caught in 2024, Herrera struggled with tailing throws and his throwing mechanics and threw out just four of 59 base stealers. In 2025, when he was behind the plate just 14 times, Herrera did not prevent any of the 15 stolen bases taken off him and the Cardinals pitching staff.

Because of his return from elbow surgery and continued rehabilitation on his knee, Herrera played just six games in Spring Training and was behind the plate five times. Marmol liked what he saw early this season and thinks Herrera has the potential for major growth defensively in the 2026 season.

“We liked where we was (in terms of calling games), but Spring is different because you aren’t really game-planning for hitters,” Marmol said. “His head was in a good place when it came to (calling games) at a high level. More important, it’s that he is feeling good and he’s not feeling (pain in) that knee at all.

“But let’s see how he comes out of (Saturday).”

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