Cardinals rookie catcher Pedro Pages knows that not lunging or jumping forward can take him a long way. That’s a key he honed in on in the batter’s box coming up through the minors, and it has remained a focal point during his time in the majors.
When his first move in the batter’s box is to open up his hip and his body drifts forward, it’s a bad recipe that he summed up as: “The ball beats you at that point.â€
But when he’s able to “load†his hands slowly, sit on his back hip and “let it ride from there,†then he’s giving himself a chance.
“It’s just mostly my load and approach-wise,†Pages said. “It’s just sticking to my approach, having a plan when go up there and just confidence. The more I’ve played this year, the more confidence I’ve gotten up there, and the faith they have in me here to trust me in those situations has been great. It’s something I want to keep working on.â€
People are also reading…
Pages credited work he has done with the hitting coaches, and he said he’s even asked them to alert him if they notice him lunging during games so he can take a look at video between innings and make the quick fix so he doesn’t “give away†at-bats.
For example, on Monday night, Pages said he was a little “jumpy†in his first two at-bats and “in between†pitches with his approach. He managed to stay back in a crucial spot and delivered a bases-loaded RBI single in the seventh inning.
In 60 games in the majors this season, Pages batted .244 with a .282 on-base percentage and a .381 slugging percentage. He’s continued to make improvements at the plate throughout the season against big league pitching.
Starting with the series against the Chicago Cubs June 14-16 at Wrigley Field, when Pages hit his first two home runs in the big leagues with his father in attendance, he has batted .270 with a .294 on-base percentage, a .426 slugging percentage, six home runs and 17 RBIs in 45 games (43 starts) entering Tuesday night.
In July (12 games started), he slashed .310/.341/.381.
On Sept. 2, he became the first Cardinals rookie catcher with a multi-home run game since 1930 (Gus Mancuso).
Last season in the minors at Double-A Springfield (Missouri), Pages slashed .267/.362/.443 in 117 games.
The Cardinals haven’t taken for granted the fact that Pages has produced offensively at a similar rate as he did at Double-A while making the jump to the majors for the first time.
“There’s been a lot of progress that we’ve seen as far as his swing, just getting shorter, him using the middle of the field and taking his shots when in hitter-advantage counts,†Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said. “He’s done some things extremely well over the last stretch that give you hope that there’s still room for development there.â€
Pages began this season playing at Triple-A Memphis, but he came up on April 21. The Cardinals briefly carried three catchers on their roster, but Pages went back to the minors on May 5.
However, he returned to the majors on May 8, after starting catcher Willson Contreras suffered a broken forearm. Pages has stayed with the big club since.
While Pages had already begun to earn a reputation as a good receiver who worked well with the pitching staff in the minors and during his time in big league camp during in spring training, he furthered that reputation this season.
He entered Tuesday ranked 18th among qualified catchers in the majors in catcher framing runs and 31st in strike percentage. The club’s ERA with Pages behind the plate (3.89) is the best of the three catchers the Cardinals have used this season (Ivan Herrera, Contreras and Pages). Pages caught his fourth shutout of the season on Monday night, which tied Contreras for the team lead.
Pages made his team-leading 53rd start of the season at catcher on Tuesday night. He’s in position to become the fourth rookie in the past 35 seasons to lead the club in games caught. He’d join Eli Marrero (73 in 1998), Mike DiFelice (91 in 1997) and Todd Zeile (105 in 1990).
McGreevy on horizon?
Triple-A Memphis scratched Cardinals starting pitching prospect Michael McGreevy from his start Tuesday night.
When asked if he could comment on whether McGreevy not making his start had implications for the major league team, Marmol replied, “Not at the moment.â€
The Cardinals are currently using a six-man pitching rotation that features Monday’s starter Andre Pallante and Tuesday’s starter Lance Lynn with Sonny Gray, Erick Fedde, Kyle Gibson and Miles Mikolas set to follow in succession from Wednesday through Saturday. The Cardinals have not named a starting pitcher for Sunday.
Left-hander Steven Matz, who began this season in the club’s starting rotation, remains in the bullpen for the time being.
McGreevy, a right-hander and former first-round draft pick (18th overall in 2021) made his major league debut in a spot start against the Texas Rangers on July 31 at Busch Stadium. He allowed one run on five hits and one walk, and he struck out three in seven innings as he earned his first big league win.
Overall this season, McGreevy has gone 9-8 with a 4.02 ERA with a 1.31 WHIP, a .259 opponent’s batting average and 8.28 strikeouts per nine innings and a 3.14-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 27 starts (150 innings).
In his 12 second-half starts for Memphis, McGreevy has gone 6-1 with a 2.96 ERA with a 1.16 WHIP, a .236 opponent’s batting average, 70 strikeouts and 18 walks in 70 innings.