Herrera (knee) expected to miss 4 weeks; Pozo promoted

PITTSBURGH -- Having already experienced a wide range of emotions as it relates to Iván Herrera's injured left knee, further testing in St. Louis on Monday revealed a bone bruise that is expected to sideline the Cardinals' promising catcher for at least four weeks.

When Herrera’s knee “gave way” on the basepaths Sunday in Boston and two staffers had to help him off the field, the Cardinals feared that Herrera’s season could be in jeopardy. However, following an MRI taken in Boston on Sunday night, the club was encouraged and believed that its 24-year-old catcher had dodged a serious injury. Further testing by team doctors in St. Louis on Monday revealed the damage that will shelve St. Louis' starting catcher for at least a month.

“I will say, the way we carried him off the field, I thought it was a full-season [absence],” manager Oliver Marmol said candidly. “So I’m glad it’s not. Obviously, he was putting together a really good year, and he was making improvements. … You hate to see it, but at the same time, we’re glad that he’s not missing the whole year, because that’s what it looked like initially.”

To replace Herrera and provide support for new starter Pedro Pagés, the Cardinals selected the contract of 27-year-old catcher Yohel Pozo from Triple-A Memphis (and transferred left-handed pitcher Zack Thompson to the 60-day injured list to make room on the 40-man roster). President of baseball operations John Mozeliak said he will continue to explore the catching market if the club needs to make supplemental moves to shore up the position.

However, Mozeliak made it clear that he and the team would like to avoid moving catcher-turned-first baseman Willson Contreras back behind the plate. The Cards also don't want to rush along any of their younger players, such as No. 4 prospect Jimmy Crooks.

“We’ll see what we have here [with Pozo] -- and with a pretty short look in spring, we liked what we saw out of him,” Mozeliak said. “I’d prefer to not have to rush anybody down low [in the Minor Leagues] and be patient with Crooks. In my job, you’re always [looking] just in case.

“My hope is that we don’t have to go down that path for [Contreras]. We asked him to make the conversion to first base, and it would have to be an emergency, emergency, emergency [for him to move back].”

The Cardinals are hopeful that Herrera, who became the first catcher in the rich history of the franchise to homer three times in a game last week, can start working his way back to action before the four-week prognosis.

Pagés took over for the injured Herrera on Sunday and had a career-best two doubles and tied a personal mark with three RBIs in a 5-4 loss to the Red Sox in Game 1 of a doubleheader. Pagés also caught eight innings of the Game 2 loss to the Red Sox, leading to Pozo being in the starting lineup on Monday in Pittsburgh.

Pozo, a native of Venezuela, made it to the big leagues in 2021 with the Rangers and hit .284 with one home run in 21 MLB games. In five games with Triple-A Memphis this season, Pozo leads the team with a .333 average (7-for-21) to go with three doubles, two homers and six RBIs.

“It feels like a second debut,” said Pozo, who found out on Sunday night that he was headed back to the big leagues, though he didn’t arrive in Pittsburgh until 2 p.m. on Monday. “I made it to the big leagues in 2021, but I haven’t been in the big leagues since then, so it feels like the first time again.”

The Cardinals moved Contreras to first base this season in hopes of keeping him healthier and in the lineup more often in 2025. They felt comfortable in doing that because of the growth of Herrera and Pagés, and the promise of Minor League catchers Crooks and Leonardo Bernal (No. 7 prospect in the organization), Mozeliak said.

After being the Cardinals' most productive hitter throughout Spring Training, Contreras entered Monday just 4-for-35 (.114) with 16 strikeouts in nine games. He has two doubles and three RBIs. Still, the Cardinals are MLB’s only team to score at least four runs in every game and they set a National League record by registering double-digit hits in nine straight games to open the season. If they tally 10 hits on Monday, they would tie the NL/AL record set by the 1999 Cleveland Indians, who had 10-plus hits in the first 10 games of that season.

For now, Mozeliak said the team will hope for the best in getting Herrera back as soon as possible.

“Obviously, we were hoping for something a little shorter, but we’ll be patient,” Mozeliak said. “Hopefully, it’s close to the four weeks, and we’ll see how he responds.”