Iván

Herrera

With Jimmy Crooks being sent down on Monday, Bernal will split time with Pedro Pages behind Ivan Herrera in St. Louis. The 22-year-old is the seventh-ranked prospect in the Cardinals organization and hit .278/.363/.468 with 16 home runs, 77 RBI, and nine steals in 101 games at Triple-A this season. He would be interesting in two-catcher formats if he got consistent playing time behind the plate with Herrera at DH, but it remains to be seen if that will happen.

Herrera is showing a little extra heat over the past 15 games, hitting .286/.318/.460 with a homer and a stolen base after a long dry spell in July. He’s still a reliable starting catcher in 12-team leagues, but it’s been a bumpy ride of late. Maybe this will get him going.

Herrera’s day started with a popup to short that dropped in and included three more singles afterwards. It was actually his hardest hit ball of the day, a 105-mph grounder, that produced his only out. Herrera went 8-for-14 with a homer and two doubles in the series against the Rockies, raising his OPS from .728 to .752.

While the Cardinals were held to just four hits in this game, they made them count. None more so than Herrera who tacked on their third run by the second inning with a solo home run. That stood as their final run of the game as they narrowly hung on to win and Herrera hopes this will help him break out of his prolonged slump. Over his last 30 games, he has 31 strikeouts and a .536 OPS.

This was an unbelievable baseball game. Tied 0-0 after nine, Pete Crow-Armstrong swatted a two-run home run in the top of the 10th to give the Cubs a commanding lead. Facing a sweep and swirling rumors about teammates being traded, the Cardinals rallied for three in the bottom of the inning with Herrera’s walk-off double landing the final blow. It was his second of two doubles – with the first being hit 111 mph – and saved the day. Herrera himself has been at the center of some recent rumors and hopes to get off the schneid after putting up a .545 OPS over his last 30 games.

As dynasty managers are aware, St. Louis has one of the most exciting offensive catching prospects in the game looming in the upper minors with Rainiel Rodriguez. That could make either Herrera or Páges viable trade options ahead of next week’s deadline. It doesn’t sound like anything is imminent, but there’s an opportunity for the Cardinals to move one of their veteran backstops with so many contending clubs searching for catching help.

It could have been an even better game, but his 106-mph liner in the fourth was hit right at TJ Friedl in center for an out. Herrera entered the night 7-for-51 with no extra-base hits and one RBI in his previous 13 games.

Herrera gets his first day off all season. Herrera is hitting .241/.366/.373 after a .200/.247/.253 cold streak through his first 19 games of July. He also has the lead league in double plays grounded into at 14.

Herrera has been struggling the last couple of weeks, but a four-strikeout game from a guy with a 16 percent K rate is pretty unexpected. He’d never had one previously in 301 games as a major leaguer. Herrera is 6-for-40 with no extra-base hits in his last 10 games.

It’s the first trip to the Mid-Summer Classic for the 26-year-old backstop. Herrera has had a solid first half at the plate, slashing .249/.384/.395 with 11 long balls, 40 RBI and a 68/51 K/BB ratio over 411 plate appearances.