PITTSBURGH -- Making it clear that they have no intention of moving catcher-turned-first baseman Willson Contreras away from his new position and back behind the plate, the Cardinals made a flurry of moves on Monday to replace injured catcher Iv¨¢n Herrera and provide for some protection behind starter Pedro Pag¨¦s.
St. Louis selected the Triple-A contract of 27-year-old catcher Yohel Pozo and transferred left-handed pitcher Zack Thompson (left lat strain) to the 60-day injured list to make room on the 40-player roster. The moves came after Herrera was placed on the 10-day injured list after his left knee ¡°gave way¡± on Sunday afternoon while running the bases.
Herrera, one of the Cardinals' biggest hitting stars of the young season, had an MRI on his left knee on Sunday, and it showed no structural damage in the knee, manager Oliver Marmol said. Herrera, who became the first catcher in franchise history to homer three times in a game on Wednesday, was scheduled to return to St. Louis on Monday for additional testing. Those tests will reveal the full extent of the injury and how long the catcher will be away from the team, Marmol said.
Herrera is hopeful that he will be able to return when his IL stint ends in 10 days.
¡°I was a little worried, but not much,¡± said Herrera, who needed assistance to get off the field from third base to the third-base dugout. ¡°I feel like I¡¯m going to be back soon. There was pain on my knee, and it was kind of bad when it happened, but it¡¯s fine now, and maybe it¡¯s just some inflammation. I don¡¯t think I¡¯m going to miss much time ¡ maybe a couple of days.¡±
Pag¨¦s 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. Pag¨¦s also caught eight innings of the Game 2 loss. He is expected to start behind the plate Monday when St. Louis opens a three-game set against the Pirates at PNC Park.
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 doing that because of the growth of Herrera and Pag¨¦s and the promise of Minor League catchers Jimmy Crooks (the Cardinals' No. 4 prospect, per MLB Pipeline) and Leonardo Bernal (No. 7), president of baseball operations John Mozeliak said.
After being the club's most productive hitter throughout Spring Training, Contreras is just 4-for-35 with 16 strikeouts in nine games, with two doubles and three RBIs. Still, St. Louis is MLB¡¯s only team to score at least four runs in every game. The Cardinals also have a National League-record nine consecutive games with double-digit hits to open the season, one shy of the AL/NL record set by Cleveland in 1999.
Pozo, a native of Venezuela, made it to the big leagues in 2021 with the Rangers and hit .284 with one homer in 21 games. In five games with Triple-A Memphis this season, Pozo leads the team in hitting at .333 (7-for-21) with three doubles, two homers and six RBIs.
St. Louis also returned right-handed pitcher Gordon Graceffo -- the 27th player added for Sunday¡¯s doubleheader -- to Memphis on Monday.