Iván Aaron Herrera (; born June 1, 2000) is a Panamanian professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the catc ...

for the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Centra ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB). He made his MLB debut in 2022.

Career

Herrera signed with the

as an international free agent on July 7, 2016. Herrera made his professional debut in 2017 with the

Rookie League Minor League Baseball (MiLB) is a professional baseball organization below Major League Baseball (MLB), constituted of teams affiliated with MLB clubs. It was founded on September 5, 1901, in response to the growing dominance of the National L ...

Dominican Summer League Cardinals The Dominican Summer League Cardinals or DSL Cardinals are a rookie league affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals based in the Dominican Republic. The team plays in the Boca Chica South division of the Dominican Summer League. History The team fir ...

, batting .335 with one home run and 27 RBI over 49 games. In 2018, he spent a majority of the year with the rookie-level

Gulf Coast League Cardinals The Florida Complex League Cardinals or FCL Cardinals are a rookie league affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals, competing in the Florida Complex League of Minor League Baseball. Prior to 2021, the team was known as the Gulf Coast League Cardinals. ...

while also playing in two games with the

Springfield Cardinals The Springfield Cardinals are a Minor League Baseball team based in Springfield, Missouri. They are members of the Texas League's North Division and serve as the Double-A affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals. The Springfield Cardinals began pl ...

of the Double-A

Texas League The Texas League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated in the South Central United States since 1902. It is classified as a Double-A league. Despite the league's name, only its five South Division teams are actually based in the ...

at the end of the year. Over 30 appearances with both affiliates, Herrera hit .336 with one home run and 25 RBI. Herrera began the 2019 season with the

Peoria Chiefs The Peoria Chiefs are a Minor League Baseball team of the Midwest League and the High-A affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals. The team was established in 1983 as the Peoria Suns. They are located in Peoria, Illinois, and are named for the Pe ...

of the

Single-A Single-A, formerly known as Class A and sometimes as Low-A, is the fourth-highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States, below Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A, Double-A (baseball), Double-A, and High-A. There are 30 teams cl ...

Midwest League The Midwest League is a Minor League Baseball league established in 1947 and based in the Midwestern United States. A Class A league for most of its history, the league was promoted to High-A as part of Major League Baseball's 2021 reorganizat ...

before being promoted to the

Palm Beach Cardinals The Palm Beach Cardinals are a Minor League Baseball team of the Florida State League and the Single-A affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals. They are located in the town of Jupiter in Palm Beach County, Florida, and play their home games at Roge ...

of the

High-A High-A, officially Class High-A, formerly known as Class A-Advanced, and sometimes abbreviated "A+" in writing, is the third-highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States and Canada, below Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A and D ...

Florida State League The Florida State League (FSL) is a Minor League Baseball league based in the state of Florida. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 until its demotion to Single-A following ...

in July; over 87 games between the two clubs, he slashed .284/.374/.405 with nine home runs and 47 RBI. After the season, he was selected to play in the

Arizona Fall League The Arizona Fall League (AFL) is an off-season baseball league owned and operated by Major League Baseball (MLB) which operates during autumn in Arizona, United States, at six different baseball complexes. Arizona Fall League rosters are filled ...

with the

Glendale Desert Dogs The Glendale Desert Dogs are a baseball team that plays in the West Division of the Arizona Fall League. They play their home games at Camelback Ranch in Glendale, Arizona. The ballpark is also the spring training facility of the Chicago White S ...

, with whom he was named an All-Star. Herrera was a non-roster invite to 2020 spring training. He did not play in a game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league season because of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. On November 20, 2020, the Cardinals added Herrera to their

40-man roster A Major League Baseball roster is a list of players who are allowed, by league agreement, to play for a Major League Baseball (MLB) team. Each MLB team maintains two rosters: an active roster of players eligible to participate in an MLB game, an ...

to protect him from the

Rule 5 draft The Rule 5 draft is a Major League Baseball (MLB) player draft that occurs each year in December, at the annual Winter Meeting of general managers. The Rule 5 draft aims to prevent teams from stockpiling too many young players on their minor lea ...

. Herrera spent the majority of the 2021 season with Springfield, slashing .231/.346/.408 with 17 home runs and 63 RBI over 98 games. He played in one game for the Triple-A

Memphis Redbirds The Memphis Redbirds are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals. They are located in Memphis, Tennessee, and are named for their Major League Baseball affiliate. The Redbird ...

to end the season. Herrera began the 2022 season with Memphis. On May 23, 2022, the Cardinals promoted Herrera to the major leagues for the first time. He made his MLB debut the next day. He collected his first career hit on June 26, knocking a single off of

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Division. Th ...

starter Alec Mills. Herrera appeared in 11 games for St. Louis during his rookie campaign, going 2-for-18 (.111) with six RBI. He spent the majority of the season with Memphis, hitting .268/.374/.396 with six home runs, 34 RBI, and five stolen bases. Herrera was optioned to Memphis to begin the 2023 season. He made 18 appearances for St. Louis on the year, hitting .297/.409/.351 either four RBI and five walks. Herrera made 72 appearances for the Cardinals during the 2024 campaign, slashing .301/.372/.428 with career-highs in home runs (5), RBI (27), and stolen bases (5). He was named to the All-Tournament team for the 2024 Caribbean Series, while playing

winter league baseball Winter league baseball is baseball contested in sports leagues during what is generally considered the baseball off-season. Background Annually, the highest level of professional baseball competition, Major League Baseball (MLB), begins with spri ...

for the

Federales de Chiriquí ''Federales'' is a slang term in English and Spanish languages referring to security forces, particularly those of the federal government of Mexico. The term gained widespread usage by English speakers due to being popularized by films as '' T ...

of the

Panamanian Professional Baseball League The Panamanian Professional Baseball League (, or LPBP), commonly known as Probeis, is a professional baseball winter league consisting of four teams based in Panama. Originally founded in 1946, the league has run in its current form since 2011. ...

. On April 2, 2025, Herrera hit three home runs against the

Los Angeles Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Greater Los Angeles, Greater Los Angeles area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, ...

and scored six RBI in the game. Herrera not only recorded his first multi-homer game of his career but also became the first catcher in Cardinals history to hit three homers in a game.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Herrera, Iván 2000 births Living people Major League Baseball players from Panama 21st-century Panamanian sportsmen Panamanian expatriate baseball players in the United States Major League Baseball catchers St. Louis Cardinals players Dominican Summer League Cardinals players Gulf Coast Cardinals players Peoria Chiefs players Palm Beach Cardinals players Springfield Cardinals players Memphis Redbirds players Glendale Desert Dogs players Cañeros de Los Mochis players Panamanian expatriate baseball players in the Dominican Republic Panamanian expatriate baseball players in Mexico