It remains to be seen if Ivan Herrera will have catcher eligibility for the 2026 fantasy baseball season, though he’s expected to see most of his playing time for the Cardinals as their designated hitter while occasionally giving Pedro Pages a breather at backstop. That positional duality is huge in terms of upside and, ultimately, his ADP.
Still, Herrera is a player who’s not known as much for his catching prowess as he is for his hitting. He was arguably the Cardinals’ best hitter in 2025, and the fact that he still has eligibility at catcher gives him a nice boost in fantasy, considering this is a position where there isn’t a lot of fantasy upside.
In the 2025 campaign, a season in which he dealt with injuries from time to time, hamstring and knee issues limited Herrera to “only” 107 games. But when he was available, he was outstanding. He hit .284 with a .373 on-base percentage and .464 slugging percentage, good for an .837 OPS.
Herrera also hit .301 with an .800 OPS in 2024, so his hitting ability is not in doubt.
Ivan Herrera’s Strengths, Weaknesses, and 2026 Fantasy Projection
The majority of fantasy baseball stats among hitters are related to their hitting ability. Herrera has proven he can hit for average, draw walks, and get on base at an above-average clip.
He has had a walk rate above 9% in all four of his seasons in the majors, with a 9.7% mark in 2024. Herrera also cut down his strikeouts massively in 2025, going from a 20.5% strikeout rate in 2024 to 18.6% in 2025.
You’re probably not going to get many steals with Herrera, although he did steal 8 bases on 10 attempts in 2025. But as a hitter who has power, elite contact abilities, and an above-average capacity to get on base, Herrera should be a valuable fantasy commodity regardless of the format of your league.
If he were to have catcher eligibility, he’s certainly a player to target in the early-to-mid rounds. But even if he’s limited to a utility-only role, Herrera hits enough to be considered a valuable option to draft, albeit a bit later than if he were a catcher as well.
For what it’s worth, the Cardinals plan to give him another go at catcher in 2026 following a cleanup procedure on his right elbow, so he should regain eligibility at the position early on as long as he shows enough improvement defensively.
If you have the chance to draft Herrera in the mid-to-late stages of your drafts, he’s an excellent choice as an overall above-average hitter. His ADP is around the No. 175 range, and he is widely considered a top-15 catcher in fantasy baseball for the 2026 campaign.
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