St. Louis Cardinals place Herrera on 10-day injured list
The St. Louis Cardinals were dealt a body blow on Friday in the midst of one of their most difficult stretches of the season when catcher and designated hitter Iván Herrera was placed on the 10-day injured list with a strained left hamstring. Herrera identified the strain as grade two (of three) and said team doctors told him he would miss between two and six weeks.
That timeframe would place Herrera’s return, in theory, in close proximity to MLB’s July 31 trade deadline, leaving the Cardinals to make their most definitive season-directional decisions without one of their most important hitters in place.
Infielder Thomas Saggese was recalled from Triple-A Memphis to take Herrera’s spot on the active roster.
The righty-hitting Herrera leads the club with a .925 OPS and 157 OPS+, representing 57% better production than league average. He’s third on the team with eight home runs despite having already missed a month earlier this season with a bone bruise in his left knee.
“I took a base hit, got it to right center. I tried to go for two bases right there and just felt a little pull in my hamstring in a small spot,” Herrera said Friday. “I didn’t think it was bad, but they said two to six weeks, maybe.”
He remained in the game against the Chicago White Sox to play defense in the bottom of the sixth and seventh innings before determining he was too uncomfortable to remain in the game. The Cardinals were hopeful that the soreness would abate overnight and allow him to perhaps return to the lineup this weekend, but when he reported to the ballpark early Friday for testing, it was clear that would not be the case.
A scan revealed the tear in the hamstring, and the Cardinals set the wheels in motion which saw Saggese racing to reach the ballpark by first pitch.
“It’s unfortunate,” manager Oli Marmol said. “He’s been doing a really nice job, swinging a really hot bat. Just a real threat offensively. We’re going to miss that, but it’s an opportunity for someone else to step in. It’s part of 162 (games), man. It’s not always going to be perfect.”
Indeed, Herrera’s emergence as the engine at the core of the offense has created complications with playing time, especially as the team has been increasingly reluctant to use him behind the plate and increasingly reliant upon Pedro Pagés.
With Jordan Walker having recently returned from the injured list and Alec Burleson and Nolan Gorman swinging the bat well – especially as Lars Nootbaar fights through a deep slump – there were not always enough lineup spots available for all the players whom the Cardinals have identified as priorities for at bats as this season wears on.
This will be Saggese’s second spin on the active roster this season, having filled in for Gorman when he missed time in April with his own hamstring strain. He showed well at the plate in that stint, going 14-for-41 with a homer and four doubles. Primarily a shortstop for Memphis, Saggese is also a more than adequate defender at second and third base, and will see some spells at those spots as the Cardinals attempt to utilize their bench more frequently and head off the impacts of the dog days of summer.
In contrast to José Barrero, who has backed up Masyn Winn at short in sporadic playing time since the end of April, the Cardinals have long prioritized finding everyday at bats for Saggese, be that in the big leagues or in the minors.
That thinking may be shifting, both out of necessity and out of a desire to determine whether Saggese has much more to handle on the development front in the minors. The 23-year-old is batting .317 with an .847 OPS and five home runs in the minors thus far this season.
“This stretch has been a grueling one, so we have to honor that,” Marmol said about playing time for Saggese and describing Friday’s series opener with the Cincinnati Reds as a “survival day.”
“(Saggese) gives you some flexibility in being able to give certain guys days off if needed,” Marmol added. “We’ve got some guys banged up, and they don’t want out, they want to play. But if needed, he allows for several positions.”
As the Cardinals slog through a difficult June and fight to tread water among their contemporaries in the NL Central, it’s difficult to see where they’ll find the necessary production to replace what they’ve gotten from Herrera. During the stretch he missed earlier this season from April 7 until May 9, the Cardinals were 20th in team slugging percentage, 18th in runs scored, and 16th in weighted runs created.
For the season overall, they’re 16th in slugging, 7th in runs, and 13th in wRC+. Herrera, undoubtedly, drives the offense. His relief on Friday was that he will have the opportunity to do so again this season; had he pushed the hamstring further, that may not have been the case.
“They say if I keep playing with this, I can risk to miss the whole year,” Herrera explained. “Just trying to stay positive. So take two weeks, and then keep playing the rest of the year.”
