All Iván Herrera Does Is Rake

Entering the season, when evaluating the NL Central, no one would’ve been remiss if they were to glance past the St. Louis Cardinals. While all four of their division rivals were posturing as buyers his winter, the once perennial contending Cardinals firmly entered their rebuilding era after trading away the likes of Willson Contreras, Sonny Gray and Brendan Donovan.

However, when one era ends a new one begins. While St. Louis may not be atop the list of teams many would predict to win the World Series this season, they’re squad looks less like one of a rebuilder and more like one capable of reaching October.

One of the names that’s been a prime reason for their success to start 2026, particularly on the offensive side of things, has been catcher and designated hitter extraordinaire Iván Herrera. Once blocked and struggling to get his chance at the big league level just a few seasons ago, Herrera looks far from that type of player so far.

The Cardinals are 23-17 and boast one of the better offenses in baseball, sitting 10th in runs scored and and tied for eighth in wRC+. And Herrera has inserted himself amongst the core of the new era of bats as nothing short of a force to be reckoned with.

Cardinals are benefitting from Iván Herrera’s complete offensive profile

Herrera already entered this season as a well respected hitter within the Cardinals’ sphere. After finally getting his regular shot in 2024, following an excellent cameo in 2023, he has consistently been a name that’s usurped the 120 wRC+ and .800 OPS thresholds.

This year however, he’s appeared to take his offensive roundedness to a different level.

The term “rake” can take on many different definitions. Herrera isn’t exactly a major threat to go yard at any given time, given his four homers this year and his career-high 19 in his first full major league season a year ago. However, that doesn’t mean he’s devoid of extra-base power.

Entering Sunday’s action, Herrera ranked just outside the top five in the league in doubles, as his 11 puts him a crowded list of tied for sixth. This is actually something fresh he’s showing the baseball world this season, after only hitting 13 of them across 107 games in 2025.

On top of that, he ranks in 64th percentile in hard-hit rate, 79th percentile in bat speed and holds an average exit velocity just a hair under 90 mph.

And there’s reason to believe that his power profile hasn’t even reached his full potential this year. He had better looking totals in the hard-hit metrics listed earlier in 2025 and his barrel rate lagging behind the above-average mark he posted after first full season in the majors last season.

Stat Type	2025	2026
Hard-Hit %	47.7% (79th percentile)	44.2% (64th percentile)
Barrel %	11.1% (68th percentile)	7.1% (39st percentile)
Avg Exit Velo	91.2 mph (78th percentile)	89.8 mph (57th percentile)
Bat Speed	74.4 mph (83rd percentile)	74.5 mph (79th percentile)

This slight down-tick though has not resulted in Herrera’s overall stat line taking a hit. In fact it’s been the opposite for the soon-to-be 26-year-old. He’s still sporting a respectable .262 AVG along with a career-high wRC+ at 139. His .827 OPS is also above-average and close to the career-high he set last year at .837.

Beyond quality of contact, Herrera is developing his offensive roundedness on the plate discipline side of things as well in 2026.

His 91st percentile 15.4% walk rate is considerably higher than the sub-10% marks he posted in both 2024 and 2025 (9.7% and 9.5%, respectively). And he continues to trend upwards in his ability to avoid the strikeout, as he currently is in his second straight season of sporting a sub-20% K-rate, with a career-best mark 18.1% through 40 games.

Historically speaking, players who rake aren’t just power threats, but are ones who produce in different ways and plate discipline is one of them. Just look at names like the great and Barry Bonds, sure he holds the all-time major league lead in homers, but he was also a career high 20.3% walk rate to just a 12.2% K-rate.

Now, by no means am I comparing Herrera to Bonds, that would be foolish. However, the point I’m making here is that those who rake are smart hitters and not just swinging or the fences. Herrera is showing that he’s precisely that type of intelligent bat in 2026.

And the expected metrics seem to like what Herrera is doing all around this season. His .264 xBA, .419 xSLG and .367 xwOBA all rank comfortably above average in baseball.

It will likely take some time for the Cardinals to return to the type of feared form they once held as a team back in their most recent World Series days of the 2000s and 2010s, with a lineups headlined by greats like Albert Pujols, Scott Rolen, Matt Holliday, Yadier Molina and Lance Berkman.

However, perhaps after starting from essentially the ground up in 2026, their lineup led by Herrera, Jordan Walker, JJ Wetherholt, Alec Burleson and Masyn Winn could be forming the next great era of Cardinals baseball.