Cardinals' Ivan Herrera Expected to Return Wednesday After Brief Absence

Breathe easy, Cardinals fans.

Sep 21, 2025; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; St. Louis Cardinals designated hitter Ivan Herrera (48) hits a two run home run against the Milwaukee Brewers during the third inning at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-Imagn Images | Jeff Curry-Imagn Images

The St. Louis Cardinals are preparing for the start of the 2026 season and will have a much different look this year than they did in 2025. A lot of their veteran players have been traded away, which clears the way for some younger players to make an impact.

They are expected to carry three catchers to start the season, as they still want to give Ivan Herrera chances to prove himself behind the plate.

The young backstop was out for a few days with knee inflammation after being scratched from Saturday's lineup, but Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that he will be back on Wednesday.

Herrera expected to be back soon

Sep 12, 2025; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA; St. Louis Cardinals catcher Ivan Herrera (48) runs to third base against the Milwaukee Brewers in the first innning at American Family Field. Mandatory Credit: Michael McLoone-Imagn Images | Michael McLoone-Imagn Images

"Ivan Herrera is expected to return to the lineup from knee soreness as soon as Wednesday. He’ll continue to ease into catching starts, while the Cardinals see Pedro Pages as the starter and Yohel Pozo his backup," Goold wrote.

With Pages starting and Pozo as the backup, the Cardinals will likely use Herrera at the designated hitter spot frequently. When he returned from his knee injury last season, the Cardinals made him their DH so that they could keep his bat in the lineup, but also have a better defensive catcher behind the plate.

But the Cardinals haven't exactly given up on Herrera as their catcher of the future. He'll continue to receive chances, and if he does well, he could very well be the one that locks the job down.

As of now though, he is at least expected to return to the lineup soon, so if fans were concerned about his knee injury, they can breathe a little easier now. Herrera is somebody that the Cardinals can build around in the future after he put together his best offensive season to date in 2025.

Last season, he slashed .284/.373/.464 with 19 home runs, 66 RBI and an .837 OPS despite making two trips to the injured list. If he can stay healthy, then the Cardinals may have one of their next offensive stars already waiting in the wings.

The Cardinals could also potentially try him out in left field again after a brief experiment last season as a way to keep his bat in the lineup and also fill a hole while they wait for Lars Nootbaar to return.

Hopefully for the Cardinals, Herrera can return from this knee injury and not have any further issues.