Sunday, April 13

BOSTON -- To see Cardinals catcher Iván Herrera now -- a 220-pound bundle of powerful legs, chiseled arms and protruding pectoral muscles – one would likely never guess why he almost gave up baseball as a teen in Panama.  

“I was kind of fat when I was a kid,” Herrera said somewhat sheepishly, still showing some of the shame from a time when he hardly resembled what he looks like now – and wanting nothing to do with the childhood pictures being posted with this article. “Well, maybe not fat, but, like, really chubby. I almost decided not to play pro baseball because people were judging me by my body.

“It wasn’t even kids saying that to me; it was the [pro baseball] scouts. They didn't want to sign me because of my body. They would always say, ‘Oh, he can hit, but he's fat, he's too chubby.’ I would hear that a lot, and one day I made up my mind that I never wanted my body to be an impediment to me reaching my goals.”

Those pitfalls are certainly no longer issues for the 24-year-old Herrera, who is just a few days removed from flexing his muscles while setting some Cardinals history. Showing off the skills that made him the Cardinals Minor League Player of the Year in 2023, Herrera became the first catcher in the rich history of the Cardinals to smash three home runs in a game in a win over the Angels.

To put that into perspective, Herrera did something neither Hall of Famer Ted Simmons nor 1982 World Series MVP Darrell Porter ever accomplished. Past Cards catchers and Hall of Fame announcers Tim McCarver or Bob Uecker never neared that mark. Neither did likely future Hall of Fame catcher Yadier Molina, the catcher Herrera idolized while growing up. Molina influenced Herrera’s decision to sign with the Cardinals, even though other MLB clubs were offering him a larger signing bonus when he was a poor 16-year-old that had just shed 15-20 pounds of extra weight.  

“Our scouts probably saw him play when he was 14, and we were scouting him at 15 and 16, but you have to remember that with international prospects, they are far from being finished products at that time,” Cardinals assistant GM Moisés Rodríguez said. 

“A lot of times what you’re trying to gauge is whether they are going to work hard enough and if they have the makeup to prove whatever you may be questioning,” Rodríguez added. “The bat-to-ball skills were always there, and he was a strong offensive player, but he needed work defensively. But he had good feet and was fairly athletic. And that’s where the makeup came in and our local scout [Damaso Espino] was willing to bet on Iván.”

The Cards were willing to bet on Herrera’s promise because of a work ethic he displayed while trying to clear up the one issue that concerned MLB teams: his weight. To better his body, Herrera would take a 4:15 a.m. bus daily from his modest home just outside of Panama City into the city for three-a-day workouts. When he wasn’t lifting weights or doing sprint work, he was pounding baseballs in the batting cage and working on his receiving behind the plate. The harder he worked, the more the pounds came off and scouts saw his potential as a big-time hitter at the MLB level.

All along, Herrera’s mission never changed: Make it to St. Louis to try and help himself and his mother, Dona, escape the poverty they experienced back in Panama.

“[The criticisms from scouts] gave me the mentality of, ‘You cannot judge me by my body, so I'm going to work my way out of this,’” Herrera recalled.  “Ever since then, I've just kind of fallen in love with the gym and in love with getting better.

“I think that’s where my work ethic really started. I remember taking that bus into the city every morning because I didn't have a car, and I didn't have money. The sacrifices I made back then helped me get to where I am now, and it still makes me want to get better.”

The Cards are banking that Herrera -- who hit another three-run homer on Friday in Boston -- will use his work ethic to improve his ability to control the running game. He threw out just four of 59 base stealers in 2024 and he’s yet to throw out a runner in seven tries so far in 2025.

“I made it here by working harder than anybody and if my arm is struggling, I'm going to work until I get it better,” he promised.

When the Cardinals return to Busch Stadium on April 11 to face the Phillies, the club will launch “Friday Night Live,” a new fan engagement initiative for all Friday home games. The hope is the initiative will bring festive vibes and a party atmosphere to the ballpark. 

The theme nights will focus on live music and happy hour-priced food and beverage specials in the Budweiser Terrace. Also, Busch Stadium’s first in-house disc jockey, DJ Deks, is set to spin music throughout the night. Other features include $5 draft beers, $6 margaritas and $5 hot dogs in the Budweiser Terrace. 

On the field, the Cardinals players and coaches will debut their red Nike City Connect uniforms for the first time in 2025. They will wear those uniforms in all 12 Friday home games. “Friday Night Live” features matchups against the Cubs, Dodgers, Yankees, Padres, Phillies and others. Those tickets are available at cardinals.com/friday. 

Among the most encouraging signs of the early season for the Cardinals has been the way Nolan Gorman has swung the bat following an offseason of working with new hitting coach and Arizona neighbor Brant Brown. In his first two games of action, Gorman went 4-for-8 with a home run and a double.

That was just what the Cardinals were hoping to see from the power-hitting left-hander, who saw his strikeout rate balloon to 37.6% in 2024, the second worst (by 0.3%) among hitters with 400 plate appearances. 

However, Gorman’s early-season momentum was interrupted when he grabbed at his right hamstring while sprinting from first to second base in the 10th inning of Tuesday’s loss to the Angels. Gorman was placed on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to April 2, and infielder Thomas Saggese was recalled from Triple-A Memphis.

“It’s super mild,” said Gorman, who is hoping to rejoin the Cardinals on April 13 without having to go out on a Minor League rehab assignment. “I’ll be moving around on it the next few days and like I said, it’s mild, so it should be quick.”

Gorman lamented the timing of the injury because of the way he has been swinging the bat. Then again, no time is a good time to get injured. He was also asked how bummed he was that the injury came just before his return to Fenway Park, a place where he had two game-winning hits (a homer and a double) and went 3-for-5 with four RBI in a 2023 series.   

“I do like it here and it’s a fun park to play in,” Gorman said.

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