The Cardinals catcher position is as interesting and exciting as ever at nearly every level throughout the system. There are a depth of options at the top, exciting prospects coming up through the system, and even unranked prospects making some noise.
Catcher that is so unique defensively compared to the rest of baseball. It becomes tough to make room for so many players, as it’s more of a last resort to move a prospect out of the Catcher position. It will be interesting to see what the higher-ups do with such a depth of talent at one position.
What did each of these players accomplish last year? What can they expect to accomplish this year in terms of both production and movement through the system?
No matter how hard it might seem on paper to make it work, if a prospect is ready to be called up a level, they will be. At the end of the day, unfortunately, there are players in the system who are expendable in a sense, and the players management prioritizes will be given the opportunity to move through the system despite the logjam. It’s up to everyone else to play well enough that they can’t justify moving off of you.
The MLB (40-Man) Level
Iván Herrera
Age: 25
Secondary Positions: DH, LF, 1B
In this series, I’m not considering DH a position. Any primary DH players will be grouped with a different position. For Herrera, the jury is still out on whether or not he is a Catcher. His defensive metrics have been lackluster if not outright detrimental at Catcher. After an injury-riddled season in which he had a massive breakout as a hitter, the writing is on the wall that he will remain a primary DH after trending in that direction last season. He played his first career games in Left Field last season, a position I don’t expect him to ever play full-time. If anything, 1B makes more sense with Burleson being the one to shift to the OF if needed. Herrera has not played an inning of 1B in the majors or minors, but did briefly in a foreign league. Herrera at Catcher is not off-limits, but the re-signing of Pozo and lack of any trade talks on Pages, as well as prospects knocking on the door, it seems unlikely that Catcher ends up being Herrera’s primary home over the next few seasons.
With the position discussion out of the way, let’s talk about Herrera’s bat. He was originally signed as an international free agent out of Panama in 2016 with an unreported signing bonus. He first debuted in MLB’s prospect rankings in 2019 after hitting above .300 in the DSL and GCL and eventually climbed to be the club’s #4 prospect. He got a taste of the show in 2022, and exceeded his rookie eligibility in 2023. In 2025, though he was likely the best hitter on the team, slashing .284/.373/.464 with 19 Home Runs.
Looking forward into 2026, Herrera should have a full time starter’s role, but maybe not all at one position. The Cardinals love to rotate their DH to give players semi-days off. In a season all about figuring stuff out I would love to see him get a crack at all 3 positions (C, 1B, & LF) while DHing often as well, as just see what sticks. One way or another, his bat needs to be in the lineup nearly everyday.
Pedro Pagés
Age: 27
Secondary Positions: N/A
One thing we learned last year was Pages is the emergency Second Baseman, which was fun for 4 innings, but is not a secondary position. He has also played small amounts at 1B and LF (in college), but the key to his game is his Catcher defense, and there’s no reason to force him into the lineup anywhere else.
Originally born in Venezuela, Pages was a 6th round pick in the 2019 draft out of Florida Atlantic. That draft pedigree kept him just outside MLB’s top 30 prospect rankings until 2024 when he was ranked #16 while knocking on the door of the major leagues. He was a fast riser through the system with his defense on full display, but the bat was never good enough to warrant those promotions on its own. With that being said, his 2023 return to AA and 2024 start in AAA showed solid power and a good enough hit tool. As expected, he’s been a below average MLB hitter, even at Catcher, but his defense has carried him to a quasi-starter role. He slashed .230/.272/.363 last season with 11 homers, very close to where his numbers landed in his 2024 half-season in the majors.
I think his tools profile best as a true backup catcher or maybe a pitcher’s personal catcher, but for now he’s a fine enough starter. If the goal the season is to evaluate players for the future, Pages helps a lot with this on the Pitcher’s side of things, even if he himself likely isn’t the catcher of the future.
Yohel Pozo
Age: 28
Secondary Positions: DH
Pozo’s inclusion on the roster is primarily as a pinch hitter with occasional time at DH or C. He got 160 ABs last year in this role, and was somewhat surprisingly re-signed this offseason. I figured that his role wasn’t really necessary given that the Cardinals aren’t exactly trying to be competitive this season. With the uncertainty around Herrera’s position, and other 40-man catchers being top prospects, Pozo might actually be the backup catcher. He signed with the Cardinals just last year after being released from the Braves system, but was originally a 2013 signing by the Rangers out of Venezuela. He was never a ranked prospect in the Rangers system, but made the bottom of a few Fangraphs prospect rankings during his time in the system. He made a brief debut in 2021 for the Rangers but never saw the Majors again until last season in St. Louis.
Pozo, despite being known for his bat, was not a great hitter last year. He slashed .231/.262/.375, and was essentially the same hitter as Pages, without the defensive ceiling. Despite this, he had many clutch moments as a pinch hitter and generally seemed to be well received by fans. I do expect him to be at risk of being cut if enough prospects push their way onto the roster in spring or throughout the year.
Jimmy Crooks
Age: 24
Secondary Positions: N/A
Crooks like Pages, is a defensive-first Catcher who doesn’t really have or need any other positions that he plays. He rarely DHs, but likely won’t ever be considered for that role in the majors.
Unlike Pages, the #6 Prospect has shown significant potential with the bat, especially in the power department. Originally a 4th round pick in 2022 from Oklahoma, he was ranked the #16 prospect in 2023 and has climbed since then. He’s essentially climbed 1 level per year, but had his most success with the bat in 2023 at AA where he had and OPS over .900. Last year he slashed ..274/.337/.441 in AAA but an awful .133/.152/.244 in 46 Major League Plate Appearances. He had a career high 15 Home Run season, with 1 coming in the Major Leagues, but hit 0 doubles and 1 triple in the majors finishing with just 2 extra base hits. The sample size is small, but the struggles at the MLB level halted fans calls for a Pages trade to open up the starting job for Crooks. The Pozo signing is also likely a sign they view Crooks as too valuable of a prospect to have as a bench player, and would rather him get playing time at AAA. This is all just an assumption, but he seems to be trending towards a AAA start barring an impressive spring training showing.
As for his 2026 outlook, I would say anything less than the Major Leagues by season’s end would be a disappointment. His most likely occurrence is he plays AAA ball until one of the 3 guys ahead of him go on the IL and then he gets his MLB return where I would not expect him to get sent back down at that point, as long as he hits better than last year at least.
Leonardo Bernal
Age: 21
Secondary Positions: DH
While everyone mentioned so far has been pretty polarized towards either their bat or their defense, Bernal profiles as a balanced, do-it-all catcher. He can hit, for average and power, and has a good arm and catcher defense. He falls short of being a five-tool player due to his speed limitations, but that comes with the territory at Catcher. He’s a DH option but should be primarily a Catcher in both the minors and eventually the Majors. Bernal, while in this section due to his inclusion on the 40-man roster, is not commonly considered to be a major-league option to start the season or potentially at all during the season, as he’s never even played AAA ball. He shouldn’t be rushed either, he’s a top prospect, coming in at #4, and is only 21 years old. He was included on the 40-man due to his Rule 5 eligibility and nothing more, at this point.
Bernal was a 2021 international free agent out of Panama, who received a decently high $680,000 signing bonus. He did not appear in the 2022 prospect list, but was #11 in 2023. Bernal slashed .247/.332/.394 in AA last season which led to his worst OPS since his DSL debut season, but not by much. His OPS has been between .771 and .726 every season since coming stateside. While the potential is still there I think it’s more likely to expect him to become an average hitter with above-average defense than the other way around.
He spent a full season at AA in 2025 after getting a taste there the year prior. He improved on his bad 2024 numbers at AA, but still didn’t hit well enough to force a promotion. Because of that I actually think he starts back in AA for a little bit, especially while Crooks is blocking him at AAA. But the second Crooks makes the majors, if not before, Bernal should be the AAA starter, looking towards a September call-up or 2027 MLB debut.
Top 30 Prospects
Rainiel Rodriguez
Age: 19
Secondary Positions: DH
A $300,000 signing out of the Dominican Republic, Rodriguez has quickly blossomed into one of the most promising prospects in the entire system. He was a DSL all-star in his first season with the Cardinals with a 1.145 OPS. He followed that up by playing in 3 levels in 2025, dominating the FCL before moving up to A and eventually getting a cup of coffee at A+. His OPS took a hit in his minuscule 4 game sample size at A+, but even then he hit .294 and had 4 RBIs. On the whole he slashed .276/.399/.555 on the season and .249/.373/.498 in A and has hit 30 homers across 2 short seasons. He’s young and there’s still a lot of time to grow as a defender. Though, if his bat keeps pushing him through the system before the defense gets a chance to catch up, there’s a chance he ends up in an Ivan Herrera situation where he moves off the position.
His A numbers aren’t as breathtaking as his previous numbers but they’re still probably good enough to warrant the promotion so look for Rodriguez to start the season in High-A. I actually expect them to slow him down a bit this year and give him time to settle in at Peoria and work with the coaching staff on his defense. As with many top prospects, another promotion would not be unheard of, in fact I would expect that if he continues to perform he would get a late season AA promotion.
Cardinals Top 100
For clarity, I use MLB’s prospect rankings whenever I can when I describe prospects. MLB only ranks a top 30 per team though. Because of that, I use my own Top 100 ranking to talk about basically every player in the system that is truly considered a “Prospect” in any sense. I will be mentioning this ranking occasionally throughout the series, but don’t put too much stock in the specific order of players especially towards the bottom.
No offense to these guys, but it’s a big drop off from the 3 MLB guys and 3 Top 6 Prospects to this next set, but that’s not to say the organization doesn’t believe in these guys.
Ryan Campos
Age: 23
Secondary Positions: DH
Campos played some corner outfield in college, but has just played Catcher and DH in the pros. He was a 4th round pick in 2024 out of Arizona State. He put himself on the radar when he came in and had a .803 OPS at A after getting drafted in 2024. He then played all of 2025 in A+ and slashed .235/.356/.340. Catcher defense can be hard to quantify at times, but by all accounts he is a solid defensive catcher. He is a contact oriented hitter but showed a little pop in college. He is my #64 prospect and has a solid Long-term prognosis as a backup catcher. After the drop off with the bat this year, I don’t exactly see him with MLB starter upside.
As for 2026, Campos should be prioritized as a starter if possible. Though if Rainiel doesn’t get pushed back to Single-A, that isn’t realistic. I would probably choose to start him at A+, and give him the AA starter job once Bernal moves up to AAA, leaving Rainiel at A+ for the time being.
Juan Rujano
Age: 18
Secondary Positions: DH
Rujano played more DH than Catcher in his first pro season, which isn’t exactly a promising sign for his long term expectations at the position. A 35% caught stealing percentage backs up scouts saying he has a good arm, but the rest of Catcher defense is lacking as it stands. If he doesn’t improve on that front, I could see 3B or RF as potential options if Catcher doesn’t work out.
Rujano was signed in last year’s international free agency period with a sizeable $750,000 bonus out of Panama. He slashed .275/.405/.418 with 3 Home Runs in the DSL. He’s obviously very far away from the Majors, but looks promising and is someone to keep an eye on in the lower minors. While there’s been some talk about him repeating the DSL due to his age and defensive deficiencies, I want him stateside working in the Complex. I want him to play nearly the full FCL season and ideally not DHing primarily. If not at Catcher, he should begin learning a new position now rather than later.
Sammy Hernandez
Age: 21
Secondary Positions: 1B, DH
Sammy Hernandez was the name I often considered to be the “best of the rest” after our big prospects. 2025 really hurt his stock though. For one, he repeated A after spending most of 2024 there, spending a small amount of time in both seasons at High-A. More importantly though, his offense fell off a cliff and it seemed like the Organization was looking to get him off of Catcher more, playing some 1B and DH. He slashed .227/.354/.291 with 3 Home Runs, all worse than his 2024 numbers at the same levels. The sole return in the 2023 Genesis Cabrera trade, Hernandez was originally signed by the Blue Jays in 2022. With a poor second season in Single-A he’s behind schedule now, but is still raw and athletic. He may get moved off of Catcher, which brings into question whether is bat is strong enough to play at 1B or another position. He’s my #85 prospect, but without giving him a 3rd season at A he will likely be buried on the depth chart in High-A Peoria, at least while Rainiel is there.
Chase Heath
Age: 22
Secondary Positions: DH, 1B
Heath is my #86 Prospect after 16 games in Single-A. Heath is a local guy, drafted in the 20th and final round in 2025 out of Central Missouri. He hit 3 Home Runs but just 1 double in 58 plate appearances, and walked a ton. He’s probably just an advanced-age prospect who can hit in the lower levels without a high enough ceiling to make the majors. He played well enough in his first season (.267/.431/.489) though to make me keep an eye out for him this season.
He profiles best as a backup or even third catcher down-the-line but this season I would be trying to get him at bats to see if he’s actually a diamond in the rough. With High A pretty full with better prospects, I actually have him slotting in as the Single-A starter.
Chase Adkison
Age: 25
Secondary Positions: 1B, DH
Adkison is my #88 prospect, but like Heath he is most likely overperforming due to age and has a relatively low ceiling. He’s an undrafted free agent from the 2023 draft class and has been a solid offensive option since turning pro, albeit as an older prospect. He’s probably best served for a backup pinch hit role and actually played more at 1B than Catcher this season. He slashed .298/.452/.394 at A+ before getting 1 game in AA.
With a bunch of prospects at A+ already, there’s no reason to move Adkison back down. He should be the backup or 3rd Catcher in Springfield, playing some 1B as well or even DH on occasion.
The Rest
These guys unfortunately didn’t make my top 100 prospects. This (as well as the bottom of the top 100) is more organizational depth than true prospects, but you never know.
Graysen Tarlow
Age: 24
Secondary Positions: DH
Tarlow, a 19th round pick in 2023 out of CSUN, shares a lot of similarities with Chase Adkison through their minor league careers thus far. Tarlow is probably better defensively while Adkison has been the better bat, but both have travelled up the minors together as older prospects with little prospect pedigree. Tarlow broke out a little this year and really got some playing time that Adkison did not in A+ and AA. He slashed .296/.401/.337 across both levels but really seemed to gain some favor from the coaching staff. He will most likely be the AA backup ahead of Adkison, but on my depth chart he’s 3rd, slightly behind Adkison. Either way he should get some ABs without being a main focus of the team.
Carlos Linárez
Age: 24
Secondary Positions: 1B
Linarez, while not much of a prospect, is probably the next man up if the Cardinals needed a Catcher to be added to the 40 man. Reminiscent of Nick Raposo a few seasons back, sometimes, due to injury, you need a catcher on the 40-man who will eventually be DFA’d. If that situation arose today, my bets would be on Linarez. He’s been known for his defense but slashed .241/.302/.379 with 5 Home Runs last year across AA with a brief AAA stop. He only spent 3 games in AAA but hit 2 of his 5 Home Runs there. His defense makes him a perfect backup catcher in AAA who shouldn’t play too often behind Crooks. I don’t expect him in a full-time starter role at any point in his career.
Andy Yerzy
Age: 27
Secondary Positions: 1B/DH
Yerzy was a 2nd round pick by the Diamondbacks back in 2016 as a bat first catcher with a decent arm but defensive concerns. He peaked in AA for them, since playing for the Reds, Brewers, and Reds again before joining the Cardinals during the 2025 season. He’s shown flashes of his formerly impressive bat the last 2 years but ultimately struggled at the AA and AAA level. He slashed .203/.289/.330 in Memphis after joining the Cardinals system. If not Linarez, Yerzy would be the next man up as an expendable option who would join the 40 man in case of emergency. I think his job is set as Memphis’ version of Yohel Pozo. The 3rd catcher with a good but heavily inconsistent bat.
Juan Pablo Cabrera
Age: 19
Secondary Positions: 1B, DH
Juan Pablo Cabrera (sometimes listed as J.P. Cabrera), was a 2024 international signing out of Mexico for an unreported signing bonus. He has actually performed decently enough in the DSL, with a CS% over 40 and limited strikeouts. In his second DSL season he slashed .247/.385/.400. Ultimately he remains unranked for me because he’s a 2 year DSL player who was never given the full starting role, so it seems the organization doesn’t see him as much of a prospect. He should move on from the DSL after 2 years there, so I expect him to be the FCL primary backup.
Heriberto Caraballo
Age: 20
Secondary Positions: 1B, DH
A highly ranked prospect by fangraphs, Caraballo has hit below .200 the last 2 seasons and hasn’t been able to earn himself a starting job. He’s been moved to 1B on occasion and it seems the organization doesn’t believe in him. He’s ended the last 2 seasons in A after spending time in the FCL. I expect him to start in A-ball again and either get promoted or cut by the time next years draftees join the system.
Paulo Asprilla
Age: 19
Secondary Positions: DH
Asprilla has spent 3 years in the system so far and has yet to have much success as a hitter or defender. I think he’s a perfect candidate to return to the Florida Complex, and likely not get much playing time in the actual FCL games.
Alex Birge
Age: 23
Secondary Positions: DH, 3B
Alex Birge was a non-drafted free agent this year who had a grand total of 9 at bats at Single-A. He’s an older prospect who could easily climb the system quickly as a 3rd Catcher, but as of right now he should return to A-ball.
Chris Lopez
Age: 20
Secondary Positions: DH
Chris Lopez was pretty awful with the bat through his first 2 minor league seasons. He took a step forward this year, slashing .233/.343/.367 in a small sample size. Lopez has only 119 at bats in 3 seasons and has been mostly organizational depth. It’s hard to argue for 4 Catchers in A but that’s where I would send him and then cut him when draftees join A if he hasn’t proven himself by then. He could also return to the Complex for his 3rd year but I don’t really see a point in that.
Jhonny Chaparro
Age: 19
Secondary Positions: 1B, DH
Chaparro was the DSL backup last season and slashed .200/.365/.246 in 65 At Bats. He got some playing time at 1B which I actually see as a good sign that the organization values him getting playing time. While he could be worthy of a FCl promotion I think he should repeat as the DSL backup.
Hector Cabrera
Age: 18
Secondary Positions: DH
Cabrera’s debut season was pretty awful hitting just .098 and slugging .118. He’s a cut candidate for sure but I have him as the 3rd DSL Catcher.
2026 International Signings
I don’t rank new international signings in my top 100 prospects list, which is completed before signing day. As with any international signee yet to debut in the minor leagues, information is scarce but I will do my best to provide insight based on the information available to me.
Sebastian Rojas
Rojas was signed out of Venezuela this offseason and given a $450,000 signing bonus, good for 4th highest in the Cardinals class. It’s been reported we had a deal with him as early as 2023, so this is guy the Cardinals have had their eye on for a while. His defense is expected to be ahead of his bat upon arrival, which likely signifies a long-term backup Catcher type profile, but for now he should be the best prospect at the position in the DSL and should get a full workload as a starter.
Projected Depth Chart
This is more of a “what I would do” in terms of minor league assignments than an actual projection of what the organization will do.
| MLB | I. Herrera | P. Pages | Y. Pozo | |
| AAA | J. Crooks | C. Linarez | A. Yerzy | |
| AA | L. Bernal | C. Adkison | G. Tarlow | |
| A+ | R. Rodriguez | R. Campos | S. Hernandez | |
| A | C. Heath | H. Caraballo | A. Birge | C. Lopez |
| FCL | J. Rujano | J.P. Cabrera | P. Asprilla | |
| DSL | S. Rojas | J. Chaparro | H. Cabrera |
Final Takeaways
Catcher is a strong position throughout the system, with 3 major leaguers and 3 top prospects. Crooks is knocking at the door of the majors, and Bernal isn’t too far back, but Rodriguez might be the most exciting of the bunch. Outside of those 6 there are a few minor prospects and future backup types as well as some lottery tickets. The biggest weakness of the position has to be AAA depth for me, a lot of teams have former major leaguers or high floor minor leaguers as insurance at the position that we don’t really have. It’s a nitpicky thing, somewhat negated by the fact we carry 3 catchers in the majors. Neither Linarez or Yerzy have been that player in the Cardinals system up to this point. If that’s the biggest weakness of a position group though, that’s a good problem to have.
