Cardinals Top Prospects: #2

This may be the shocker to a lot of you. Most prospect rankings all believe that Gorman and Liberatore are top 60 prospects in all of baseball. But Ivan Herrera is the best teenage catching prospect in baseball. The 19-year-old stands at exactly six feet tall and 180 lbs. In 2019, no prospect in the Cardinal’s system did more to his stock than Herrera (I know Dylan Carlson, but he was already a known player). I’m pretty positive that many of you had not heard about Herrera before this year or knew he’d potentially be a top 100 prospect. So what makes Herrera the number two prospect in a pretty good system? His overall game. He does not have one standout tool, he literally does everything well. In 2019, between Peoria and Palm Beach, he hit .284/.374/.405./.779 with 9 homers and 10 doubles. But in leagues where the other players are (average age) three years older, that’s impressive for a catcher. He has in-game power that could result in 15-25 homers a year. He gets on base a lot, that's what the important stat from his 2019 season is. His approach is mature and the way he calls games resembles a Cardinals great. Kyle Reis, a Birds on the Black writer, compared him to Yadier Molina. I love this comparison but honestly, Herrera has more power than Yadi (though Yadi’s defense is incomparable). Herrera, defensively, is growing. He has a STRONG arm and calls games well. He has a canon and his blocking skills are getting better and better. Last year, according to Dan McLaughlin, he threw out around 35% of attempted runners. That's incredible. He has the potential to win a gold glove, though he does get sometimes awkward behind the dish. He had an at-bat in today’s Spring Training game (Feb. 25) and singled up the middle. Keith Law recently put Herrera in his top 100 prospects going into the 2020 season. This year he will finally start to get national attention. He’s exciting. In a system that is well known at producing catchers, he may be the best since Molina, which is an eye opener. Keep an eye on him, he’s a special talent that has a HIGH floor. To those wondering what I mean by that, “High floor” means he’s likely to be a productive major leaguer, who at worst could be like Fransico Cervelli. Oh and he can run a little bit. Expect him to start in Peoria or Springfield this season and probably staying there, with catchers like Molina, Wieters, Knizner, and newly added Oscar Hernandez ahead of him. At this point of time, I think it’s safe to say that Herrera looks like the Molina heir. Knizner feels like a player the Cards will hold onto for too long, even though he should be starting in 2020, he won’t. Hopefully, the birds will trade him (maybe for Arenado).

2020 Prediction:

He will start the year in Springfield and end the year there. He will make his way onto all of the Top-100 prospects list (basically replacing Carlson, who will graduate this year).

Stat line Prediction:

.274/.380./.450 with 16 homers and 19 doubles.

Comparison:

Wilson Contreras. His body frame, arm, and bat all resemble the athleticism in Contreras.

(I told y'all I’d have a surprise. To me Herrera is going to be a top-40 prospect in the game, potentially a top-30)