Pagés wasn’t even in the starting lineup, but an injury to Ivan Herrera forced Pagés into action, and he almost emerged as the hero. Pagés is slashing .429/.429/.857 with one home run and six RBI so far this season and could be in for a long stretch as the Cardinals’ starting catcher, considering Herrera couldn’t put any weight on his knee when he exited the game. Pagés could be worth an add in two catcher leagues right now in case he gets named the starter for an extended period.

It’s a good thing for Iván Herrera’s sake that he went 4-for-7 with a couple of doubles in his first two starts. There is no denying that the Cardinals prefer Pagés’ defense behind the plate, but Herrera’s bat figures to earn him the majority of the playing time for now. Both might deserve to be MLB starting catchers.

Iván Herrera should be one of baseball’s best offensive catchers, but the Cardinals will surely play Pagés quite a bit anyway, since the defensive gulf between the two is pretty wide. Pagés isn’t hopeless offensively, either; he strikes out a little off often and he’s never going to hit for much of an average, but he does have a decent pop. He’s at .241/.313/.414 this spring.

Pages’ home run was his sixth of the year. He hit a two-run shot off Logan Gilbert in what was otherwise a scoreless game. The clutch two-run shot was the biggest hit of the year for the backup backstop. Pages is hitting .245 with a .683 OPS and 22 RBI on the year.