DENVER 鈥 What the Cardinals intended to find this season to gauge and even get a glimpse of their future at the catching position they had in unfortunate abundance.
More playing time than planned because of injuries to starter Willson Contreras has given young catchers Pedro Pages and Ivan Herrera the opportunities to take significant strides in their games and identify areas of necessary improvement as a catching question moves closer for the Cardinals. Herrera has shown the offensive upside and the need for innings defensively, while Pages鈥 agility on defense has earned playing time he鈥檚 used to grow offensively.
鈥淚t鈥檚 helped a ton because of our situation with Willson going down,鈥 manager Oliver Marmol said of Pages. 鈥淚t鈥檚 afforded him a lot a playing time. It gives him a chance to make adjustments and know he鈥檚 going to be in there every day, and on days he fails to figure out how to get back on it and make that small adjustment. When you look at how much he鈥檚 been able to play, it鈥檚 easier to make adjustments when you鈥檙e in there every day, especially as a young guy.鈥
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Herrera and Pages hit the home runs that thrust the Cardinals out to an 8-5 lead they could not hold late in a 10-8 loss Wednesday to Colorado at Coors Field.
A day after Herrera scored two runs and Pages drove in two runs for the bulk of the Cardinals鈥 5-2 victory, they combined to hit nearly 875 feet of home runs and drive in three. Pages鈥 seventh homer of the season came three innings after Herrera鈥檚 fifth. The series in Colorado was also when the duo, officially, each started more games at catcher than Contreras.
The All-Star and veteran fractured his arm early in the season and his finger late in the season to be limited to 50 starts at catcher. Though Contreras will be back next season, the two younger backstops got valuable experience in his absence.
Pages shouldered the bulk of the remaining games with his 58th start there Thursday. In the series opener Tuesday, Herrera started his 51st game at catcher and the next two at designated hitter. The tandem of young catchers entered the season as the likely tag team behind Contreras 鈥 shuttling between Class AAA Memphis and the majors and scoring more consistent starts as Contreras started at DH.
The Cardinals鈥 goal was to get Herrera time to improve his defense 鈥 sometimes at the highest level 鈥 while also leaning into Pages鈥 feel for the game and pitchers鈥 trust in him. The tandem backup became the split-shift starters due to injury.
This winter, Herrera will catch for first-year manager Albert Pujols鈥 team in the Dominican Republic鈥檚 winter league, and he heads there with a plan to improve his arm strength and ability to control the running game. That work comes as Herrera exhausts his minor league options and the Cardinals have young catcher prospects moving up.
Jimmy Crooks, who had a .908 on-base plus slugging percentage (OPS) as an everyday catcher for Class AA Springfield (Missouri), won the Texas League鈥檚 MVP this past season.
Touted prospect Leonardo Bernal was selected to go to the Arizona Fall League, which can be a springboard toward promotion.
When healthy, Contreras was the Cardinals鈥 most consistent offensive force with a .525 slugging percentage and 11 homers as a catcher. Herrera has hit .305 in his games at catcher with a .416 slugging percentage. What Pages has been able to do with more than 200 plate appearances in the majors is show steady improvement.
And a knack for RBIs.
He has 19 in only 46 at-bats with runners in scoring position.
鈥淚t鈥檚 all about confidence and timing and rhythm,鈥 Page said. 鈥淭he more at-bats you get, the more rhythm you get, the more confidence you get when you see success.鈥
The hope is the same goes for Herrera with innings on defense.
鈥淥ffensively, he鈥檚 such a good player, and the more he鈥檚 behind the plate, the more comfortable he gets with game-calling and the more comfortable he gets with throwing and blocking,鈥 veteran starter Kyle Gibson said. 鈥淎nd Pedro 鈥 you鈥檙e seeing him offensively settle in a little bit better. His at-bats have always been really good. Seeing how he鈥檚 adjusted to big league pitching has been really cool. They take pride in their defense, and they work.鈥
Herrera reached base Thursday in his 19th consecutive start, and his production in that span since June 12 includes an OPS greater than 1.000 to go with a .380 average.
The Cardinals want this winter to provide the innings he needs to improve defensively behind the plate so the talented bat can be in the lineup more often. At the same time, all of the innings on defense this summer has given Pages the plate appearances to show where he has improved at the plate.
鈥淭hey鈥檝e had some pretty big swings that changed games, some big homers as well,鈥 Marmol said. 鈥淏eing able to play them every day has been fun to watch because they are taking strides and looking a lot better than several months ago.鈥
Goldy eclipses Joltin鈥 Joe
With his home run in the first inning Thursday, Paul Goldschmidt not only vaulted into the team lead for homers with 22 this season but also ahead of Hall of Famer Joe DiMaggio on the career homer list. Goldschmidt鈥檚 362nd career homer ranks 86th all time after breaking the tie with Joltin鈥 Joe.
Ahead of Goldschmidt with 366 career homers is the player he grew up watching, former Cardinal champion and Houston Astros great Lance Berkman.
Of Goldschmidt鈥檚 362 career homers, 153 of them have been with the Cardinals.
A free agent at season鈥檚 end, Goldschmidt, now 37, would be the oldest Cardinal to lead the team in home runs since Roger Connor finished the 1896 season leading the club that became the Cardinals. He was 39 years old.
He hit 11 homers.
Extra bases
Masyn Winn鈥檚 appearance at shortstop Thursday was his 146th of the season, tying him with Charlie Gelbert of the 1929 Cardinals for the second-most all time for a rookie. With two appearances this weekend, Winn will take over the all-time lead by surpassing Ed Holly鈥檚 147 games as a rookie shortstop for the 1907 Cardinals.
- Winn participated in his 98th double play Thursday to tie Pete Kozma for the second-most by a full-time Cardinals rookie shortstop.
- The Giants have lefty Blake Snell, who threw a no-hitter earlier this season, scheduled to start Saturday鈥檚 game. The Cardinals will stick with their rotation as advertised: Miles Mikolas on Friday, Andre Pallante on Saturday and rookie Michael McGreevy in the finale Sunday.
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