Cardinals’ big league plans for Minor League Player of the Year

Catcher Ivan Herrera had some brief stints in MLB with the St. Louis Cardinals, and president John Mozeliak indicated back at the Winter Meetings that he could have a good chance to be with the big league club after Spring Training this season, and Herrera opened up on the opportunity.

“They told me that there’s a good chance that I’ll be with the big league club,” Ivan Herrera said, via David Venn of MLB.com. “It’s a big responsibility and I’m thankful for the opportunity. I’ve done a good job and I’ve matured as a player.”

It will be interesting to see what the team does with potentially having Herrera on the roster alongside Willson Contreras as well. Herrera played 13 games in MLB with the Cardinals last year, hitting .297 with a .409 on-base percentage, according to Fangraphs. Obviously that is a very small sample size, but if he is anywhere near those numbers over a longer stretch of time, the Cardinals will be very happy with the player they have.

Herrera also spoke on the relationship he has with Cardinals legend Yadier Molina, who joined the organization as a special assistant in December.

“I feel like he’s played a tremendous role in my career,” Herrera said of Yadier Molina, via Venn. “He’s helped me a lot. He gave me good perspective on defense and a lot of advice on receiving, blocking and how to anticipate the play.”

Herrera said he and Willson Contreras get along well. If Herrera performs well and Contreras performs like he did in the second half, which is more like his career norm, the Cardinals will have one of the best catching duos in baseball in 2024.