Pedro

Pagés

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.

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.

Pagés was scratched just prior to first pitch with rookie Jimmy Crooks taking over behind the plate and hitting ninth. He’s day-to-day for now.

Pagés wound up missing only one game after leaving Saturday’s showdown against the Mariners with left hamstring tightness. The 27-year-old is back handling the catching duties and hitting ninth on Monday evening against Pittsburgh.

Pages was excellent prior to the exit; going 3-for-3 with a homer. Unfortunately he was unable to continue, and Yohei Pozo was forced to enter the game as the backstop. Pages will likely undergo further testing to determine the severity of the hamstring issue.

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.

Wetherholt has an opportunity to break camp on St. Louis’ season-opening roster with a strong performance in Grapefruit League play and possesses the advanced hit tool and emerging power skillset to be a colossal fantasy difference-maker at a relatively weak second base position group. The 23-year-old top prospect batted .306/.421/.510 with 17 homers and 23 steals in 109 games in the upper minors last season and could split time between third base and the keystone with defensive wizard Masyn Winn occupying shortstop. It feels like only a matter of time before he ascends to the top of manager Oli Marmol’s lineup card as a top-of-the-order spark plug. The other interesting name to watch is power/speed combo threat Joshua Baez, who broke out with a 16-homer, 34-steal campaign at Double-A Springfield last year. Here’s the full lineup: Winn (SS), Alec Burleson (1B), Nolan Gorman (3B), Pedro Páges (C), Wetherholt (2B), José Fermín (LF), Nathan Church (CF), Baez (RF) and Blaze Jordan (DH).

The deal is now official. Pozo’s return on a split contract fortifies the Cardinals’ catching situation behind Pedro Páges with Iván Herrera ticketed for DH duty until further notice. The 28-year-old backstop posted a .637 OPS with five homers and 19 RBI in 168 appearances over a career-high 67 contests this past season.

Any fantasy managers hoping for one player to emerge will be disappointed, which will likely make it hard to roster either player for the final month of the season. Crooks will start on Tuesday for the first time at Busch Stadium with Miles Mikolas on the mound.

The 26-year-old backstop got the scoring started in the ballgame with his 407-foot (104.9 mph EV) two-run blast off of Shota Imanaga in the third inning. He also struck out and flied out to center in the contest. For the season, Pages is now hitting .211/.256/.341 with eight homers and 35 RBI in 291 plate appearances.