Rookie catcher Pagés quietly making impact with 11-game hit streak

PITTSBURGH -- Lost among the disappointment of a 5-0 loss to the Pirates in the rubber match of a three-game series on Wednesday at PNC Park was a silver lining for St. Louis’ young catcher.

Rookie Pedro Pagés pushed his hitting streak to 11 games with a line drive base hit to left field off left-hander Martín Pérez in the fifth inning.

The single, Pagés’ lone hit of the game, tied him for the second-longest hitting streak since 1900 by a Cardinals rookie that had at least 10 games at catcher that season, tied with Jimmie Schaffer (11 games in 1961) and behind Erik Pappas (16 games in 1993).

After starting his career hampered by limited playing time, the backstop has made the most of his increased opportunities lately. Pagés believes his offensive approach has greatly improved, which has helped slow down the game for him against big league arms.

“[I’m] just staying on top of my swing right now, just making sure I’m loading at the right time, [not] loading too late and being late on pitches and missing them,” Pagés said. “It’s just more [about] getting confident out there, being ready for my pitch, being aggressive and not thinking so much up there.”

Pagés is 13-for-38 (.342) at the plate during his hitting streak and 16-for-52 (.308) in his past 15 games. And while his production may not be as flashy as some of the bigger names ahead of him in the order, the catcher has quietly made an impact. The Cardinals are 9-1 in games in which Páges records an RBI and he is third on the team in at-bats per RBI (7.07) behind Nolan Gorman (6.48) and Alec Burleson (5.7).

“I think he’s actually done a nice job of being short to the ball and just finding the barrel,” Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said. “He’s just keeping it simple and he’s taken some really good swings. He’s using the big part of the field but his at-bats have been productive.”

Drafted in the sixth round of the 2019 MLB Draft out of Florida Atlantic University, Pagés spent the first several seasons of his career progressing through the organization’s farm system. He began the season at Triple-A Memphis but was quickly recalled on April 4 when Matt Carpenter went down with a right oblique strain. He’s been back and forth since but has been with the big league club since May 8. He’s gotten additional opportunities for playing time after Iván Herrera’s injury in June.

Two months later, the 25-year-old Pagés has quickly earned the respect of St. Louis’ pitching staff. After Monday’s series opener, Cardinals starter Andre Pallante gave much of the credit for his outing to Pagés and his successful in-game adjustments behind the plate. Figuring out what’s working and what isn't mid game is something that the catcher has prioritized in his first season as a big leaguer.

“Pagés called some stuff that wasn't part of my game plan but noticed I was doing a good job of,” Pallante said. “A huge credit to him [for] calling a great game, framing a lot of really good pitches at the bottom of the zone, got me some strikes.

Pagés is finding ways to get batters out even when his pitchers don’t have their best stuff.

“I just have to find a way [to help] these guys out there. Like some days their stuff isn't going to be the same or we just have to adjust because the hitters are doing adjustments. It’s just finding in-game adjustments and just seeing what works.

“At the end of the day, we just want to keep batters off balance and just uncomfortable.”

It also doesn't hurt to have a 3-time All-Star catcher in Willson Contreras around to aid in his development. Pagés said the two are in constant communication, bouncing questions off of each other and getting each other's opinions.

“We’ve talked a lot,” he said. “We always talk pregame, during the game, after the game, we always talk about situations that happen. I’ve learned a lot from him. … It’s something that I’m really thankful for and he’s been great with me.”