St. Louis Cardinals designated hitter Iván Herrera (48) hits a solo home run during the fourth inning of their game against the Milwaukee Brewers Friday, September 25, 2026 at American Family Field in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

The St. Louis Cardinals finished the 2026 season 77-85 and checked a lot of boxes in year one of their rebuild. One thing that they were hoping to see was whether Ivan Herrera could profile as an everyday catcher.

Herrera's production at the plate took a bit of a dip, but his bat is still very solid. However, his defense still remains a bit of a problem. In his end of the season press conference, Chaim Bloom stated that he believes Herrera proved he can be a catcher.

His stats behind the plate according to Baseball Savant tell a different story though.

Herrera has certainly improved at blocking balls in the dirt. His numbers there are 60 above average. However, he still struggles with throwing out base stealers, and his numbers there are below average. He is also below average in pitch framing and pop time.

Meanwhile, the Cardinals finally got a chance to see Leo Bernal in action behind the plate, and his bat is very valuable as a switch-hitter. He also managed to play far superior defense to Herrera, and he has also given Cardinals fans a good look into the future. He may ultimately be the one to become the next starting catcher in St. Louis.

At this point, it's clear that Herrera is a bat-first player. He could potentially catch on a limited basis, or the Cardinals could try him at first base if Alec Burleson ever needs a day off. They need to keep Herrera's bat in the lineup, even though he had a down year offensively, but his time as an everyday catcher is likely limited, so the Cardinals are going to have to give more opportunities to Bernal.

Meanwhile, Pedro Pages or Jimmy Crooks could serve as the backup catcher while Bernal starts and Herrera gets opportunities at other positions. It will be interesting to see how the playing time is divided next year, but the numbers do prove that Herrera is a below average defensive catcher and that it's time to end the experiment with him being behind the plate on a regular basis.

Bernal is a far superior defensive catcher, and his bat also needs to be in the lineup, as he is a switch-hitter with power from both sides of the plate, so the Cardinals do at least have a little more clarity there.