With just over two weeks left before Cardinals pitchers and catchers report for spring training, Ivan Herrera used his Friday afternoon to begin a groove at the plate heading into the official start of the preseason.
In Panama’s opening game of the Caribbean Series, Herrera went three-for-four with a solo home run and three RBIs to help power Panama to a 7-3 win over Curacao at loanDepot Park, home to the Miami Marlins.
The 23-year-old Cardinals catcher served as the designated hitter for his native country. He opened the scoring between the two teams with a single to center in the third inning. He followed that with a solo home run to left-center field that furthered Panama's lead to 6-2 in the seventh and bookended his day with an RBI single to left field in the eighth.
Herrera’s participation in the 2023-24 Caribbean Series is his third time representing Panama in the international tournament. He came into Friday with 12 games of experience in the globe tournament under his belt.
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He also has some momentum on his side following a 2023 campaign that ended with him as the Cardinals minor league player of the year.
Herrera, who is set to be the backup to starting catcher Willson Contreras in 2024, slashed .297/.451/.500 with 27 doubles and 10 home runs in 83 Class AAA games. When in the majors, Herrera’s production translated to a .297 and a .409 on-base percentage in 13 games. His rookie status is still intact through 2024.
Similar to the Champions League (or Cup) tournaments held for club soccer across different regions of the world, the Caribbean Series is a yearly baseball tournament that consists of seven teams that each represent the championship clubs from the major Latin-American winter baseball leagues.
Teams representing the Dominican Republic (Tigres del Licey), Puerto Rico (Criollos de Caguas), Venezuela (Tiburones de la Guaira), Mexico (Naranjeros de Hermosillo), Panama (Federales de Chiriqui), Nicaragua (Gigantes de Rivas), and Honduras (Curacao Suns) make up this year’s Caribbean Series, which is the 66th edition of the international tournament. Puerto Rico’s representative team, the Criollos de Caguas, is managed by Cardinal great and adviser to the club, Yadier Molina.