The Cardinals have spent the final stretch of the 2026 season searching for reasons to feel good, and Ivan Herrera has given them a real one.
After a sluggish July and a so-so August, the designated hitter has started to show life again in September. He delivered when St.
Louis was staring at a loss Friday night against the Colorado Rockies, launching a three-run homer with the Cardinals down to their last few outs and helping them escape with a win. He backed that up Saturday with another big swing, this one a two-run blast.
That kind of pop is exactly what the Cardinals needed from Herrera over the last two months. It also makes the trade-deadline chatter around him look a lot different now. Herrera was mentioned as a possible move at the deadline, but his recent surge is a reminder of why dealing him would have been a mistake.
The defense is never going to be the selling point. Even so, the bat is strong enough to keep him in the picture.
St. Louis already has plenty of left-handed hitters, so finding more right-handed thump matters, and Herrera gives them that balance.
The organization still hasn’t truly produced a star right-handed bat since the days of Albert Pujols and Yadier Molina, and there’s still no certainty that Jordan Walker will duplicate his success next year.
Herrera is not being placed in that class, but the Cardinals do need someone who can hit for both average and power from the right side. He has a chance to be that guy.
He was one of three Cardinals named an All-Star this season, joining Riley O'Brien and Walker. If this version of Herrera sticks, it matters for more than just September.
It gives St. Louis a better shot at closing strong now and possibly building toward contention by 2027.
At this point, Herrera doesn’t look like the catcher of the future. But he does look like a player whose bat is too useful to walk away from.
Over his last 30 games, he is hitting .275/.367/.425 with four home runs and 16 RBI, which is much closer to the Herrera the Cardinals have been waiting for. That production makes him a legitimate part of the team’s future plans.
In Other News...
Cardinals Prospect Story Just Sparked A Perfect Umpire Troll
Hancel Rincns major league debut on Sept. 4 came with a detail that quickly outgrew the box score, when umpire Doug Eddings told the young pitcher to adjust the angle of his hat. The moment drew plenty of attention, and it also gave Rincns former Double-A club in Springfield a clean opening to lean into the joke.
So on Sept. 10, the Springfield Cardinals announced a giveaway of Crooked Caps, turning a one-night oddity into a bit of minor league theater. It also fit the mood around a club that has already clinched a Texas League playoff berth and keeps stocking the pipeline with players who could matter to St. Louis down the road, which only makes the timing of the promotion feel even more on-brand. [Read more 🡒]
Cardinals Fans Still Have One Tradition Other Teams Are Starting To Copy
St. Louis has long treated returning former Cardinals a little differently than most ballparks do, turning Busch Stadium into a place where past service still matters even when a player is wearing the other uniform. Albert Pujols celebrated return in 2019 remains the standard-bearer for that tradition, and it has helped define how Cardinals fans respond when a familiar face comes back as an opponent.
The custom has not faded even with attendance down in recent years, and it has continued with players such as Willson Contreras, Nolan Arenado and Paul Goldschmidt drawing warm welcomes. More recently, Baltimore fans gave Adley Rutschman a standing ovation when he returned with the Red Sox, another sign that the Cardinals old-school habit is starting to look less unusual around the league, even if St. Louis has been doing it for years. [Read more 🡒]
Cardinals Rotation Feels The Loss Of One Veteran More Than Ever
The Cardinals offseason decision to move Sonny Gray and add prospects in return looked like a classic short-term sacrifice for long-term gain, and theres still plenty of logic to that. But as St. Louis has navigated this seasons rotation, Grays departure has stood out more than ever, especially with the veteran right-hander giving the Red Sox exactly the kind of steady work the Cardinals were trying to replace.
Gray has been a key piece in Boston, working to a 2.82 ERA with 128 strikeouts across 143.2 innings, a reminder of what St. Louis gave up when it chose to reset. The prospects acquired in the deal are the reason the front office made the move, and those benefits could still come later, but right now the Cardinals are left wondering how different the rotation might have looked with one more proven arm in the mix. [Read more 🡒]