Ivan

Herrera

Herrera had gone just 4-for-25 in the month of June prior to this game, so perhaps this is the game that gets the 26-year-old going again. He singled twice and doubled; the latter being the 13th of the season. Herrera has put together a competent season despite the early struggles to begin the month with a .264 average and .803 OPS.

Herrera lost a seven-game hitting streak last night, but he made up for it today with one of his better games from the DH spot this year. He’s hitting .227 with 29 strikeouts in 144 plate appearances as a DH, compared to .328 with nine strikeouts in 79 plate appearances as a catcher. It’s probably something of a fluke, but it’s quite possible catching helps him stay in the flow of the game better. Still, even if that’s the case, Pedro Pages’ superiority on defense possibly outweighs the potential offensive gains.

Herrera’s fifth homer and first since Apr. 25 was a 410-foot blast off Mason Montgomery. It was his first career walkoff homer. There should be more power in the way, and in spite of the home run drought, he’s still at a solid .263/.391/.417 for the year.

All four hits were singles and only one was a hard-hit ball, but his roll continues. Herrera is batting .320 with three homers and seven doubles in his last 20 games.

Herrera turned a 1-0 lead into a 4-0 cushion with a three-run double off Chad Patrick. The 25-year-old has been able to drive in 17 runs over 35 games while posting a very solid .840 OPS.

It was Herrera’s third home run and 12th RBI of the season. The batting average hasn’t been there with a .230/.387/.379 slash line so far this season, but Herrera is hitting the ball as hard as he ever has and making more contact than ever with a nearly 95 percent zone contact rate. The production should come soon.

Herrera has now homered twice in his last three games while hitting safely in four of his last five. Herrera singled in the fourth inning to drive home Pedro Pagés to give the Cardinals a 4-2 lead, and then smacked a two-run blast in the eighth to give the Cards a healthy 9-3 lead. Friday marks Herrera’s first multi-hit game of the season. While he’s starting to show a little more consistency at the plate, we need to see a few more games like Friday’s before assuming he’s out of this early slump.

Herrera will be behind the plate for the second time of the season. Nolan Dorman will be the designated hitter, and Ramón Urías will handle third base. Pedro Pages will retreat to the bench with Herrera behind the dish.

It’s a notable development from a fantasy perspective that Herrera will make his first appearance behind the plate after injuries limited him to just 14 games there last season. The 25-year-old backstop, who also dealt with knee inflammation during the late stages of spring training, should regain catcher eligibility in most formats within a few weeks, positioning him as an upper-echelon option at the position for the foreseeable future.

It sounds like the Cardinals are merely being cautious here but it’s a situation fantasy managers should monitor in the coming days. The 25-year-old backstop missed time early last season with a knee issue, which limited him to mostly DH duty for the final five months of the year.