Thursday, November 12

The Cardinals are still early in the process of figuring out which players are a part of the franchise’s next championship-contending teams, of deciding where they are set and where they need to add … or subtract.

There’s no position on the roster more fascinating than catcher. The Cardinals are absolutely stacked behind the plate, with four catchers already on the 40-man roster, a group that doesn’t even include the organization’s top prospect. The Cardinals do not seem in any hurry to make a final decision, but eventually, well, it’s just not particularly efficient to keep that many catchers around.

So let’s take a look at the five options the Cardinals have here, and how they might fit on the roster for 2027 … and beyond. (Players are listed alphabetically.)

Leo Bernal

Bernal was always considered a clear candidate to be the Cardinals’ catcher of the future. He was a Top 100 prospect, per MLB Pipeline, he hit 16 homers in 101 games at Triple-A Memphis in 2026 and he was considered the team’s best defensive prospect.

But when the Cardinals called up Bernal in September, he simply showed up and blew everybody away. The switch-hitter put up an .807 OPS in 102 plate appearances, with excellent quality-of-contact numbers on the Statcast side. He also came up with some clutch hits, dazzled pitchers with his skill and comfort behind the plate and awed no less than Yadier Molina, who met privately with Bernal after the Cardinals legend was inducted into the Cardinals Hall of Fame. 

“That was about as good of a use from a player of a September cameo I have ever seen in my career,” president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom said.

Bernal still has to prove it over a full season. But it would be an absolute shock not to see him as the Opening Day catcher.

Jimmy Crooks

Crooks has also been a highly regarded prospect, and a power surge at Triple-A got him a callup in late May. That power did not immediately translate, though. Crooks wound up appearing in 52 games apiece for Memphis and St. Louis in 2026, but the results couldn’t have been more different: a .300 average, 1.006 OPS and 15 homers in Triple-A, but a .179 average, .591 OPS and five homers in the Majors.

Still, Crooks’ underlying quality-of-contact metrics hinted at the potential the Cardinals have seen. The organization still believes in Crooks, but the question now is whether he is best served by being a backup to Bernal in the big leagues in 2027 or playing every day at Memphis. The issue is that both rosters are likely to be crowded with catchers.

Is there a team that believes in Crooks and might be willing to make a deal for him, given the scarcity of catching across the league? Or do the Cardinals stick with him?

Iván Herrera

The Cardinals were hoping Herrera would be able to build off his raw power numbers in 2025 while also improving defensively, but neither happened: He had just as many homers (19) in 2026 as he did in 2025, despite playing in 54 more games, and his OBP dropped 20 points. His throwing arm also remained unreliable. Herrera did still make the All-Star team, but that was on the strength of his first 75 games (.834 OPS), as opposed to his final 86 (.647 OPS).

Herrera caught 52 games in 2026, while spending the majority of his time at DH. The Cardinals haven’t taken further catching off the table, but he’s going to have to hit a lot better in 2027 to make up for that defense and the gathering crowd at the position. Frankly, he’s going to have to hit better just to stick at DH, since he has no other clear position. Like Crooks, though, the Cardinals still believe in Herrera, and he’s well-liked among his teammates. The question is whether another team, in search of right-handed power, would give the Cardinals some pitching to help clear up the logjam.

Pedro Pagés

There may be no more purely beloved Cardinal than Pagés, at least among his fellow players. He always seems to be the first guy both pitchers and hitters want to talk to in the dugout, and there isn’t a pitcher on the team who doesn’t rave about his abilities behind the plate. The problem remains his bat, with Pagés putting up a .275 OBP and hitting only four homers in 2026, eventually leading to Crooks (and later Bernal) taking his job.

Pagés’ defensive ability is still incredibly valuable, but his roster spot looks the shakiest. No matter what happens, you can tell the Cards would love to have him back as a coach at some point, someday.

Rainiel Rodriguez

Here is where the real excitement lies. Rodriguez is ranked as MLB Pipeline’s No. 10 prospect and is the top catcher on the list. He has dominated at every level he has faced and passed every test the Cardinals have thrown at him. He did, after all, just put up a .999 OPS at Double-A Springfield at the age of 19. (He’ll turn 20 on Jan. 4.)

Rodriguez’s catching abilities are adequate, or maybe even a little better than that. Think of him as better than Herrera, but nowhere in the ballpark of Pagés or Bernal. Bloom has said that Rodriguez is remaining at catcher, but he also played 18 games at first base for Springfield, and Bloom even said in our chat last month that they’re trying him out at third.

The bat plays anywhere, and it may play so quickly that the position doesn’t matter as much. But he’s still in the mix at catcher until the Cardinals take him out of it. And if we’ve learned anything, it’s that the team isn’t afraid to have as many catchers, and as many options, as possible.

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