Latest / Cardinal Territory: A St. Louis Cardinals Podcast / Iván Herrera On 2026 Season, Offseason Plans, Future Expectations

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Iván Herrera On 2026 Season, Offseason Plans, Future Expectations · Cardinal Territory: A St. Louis Cardinals Podcast

• 0:07
  Speaker 1: Hello, everybody, and welcome to another edition of Cardinal Territory.
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: Jim Hayes with you. Lance Lynn is on the beach
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: in Florida, and Kyle Gibson is somewhere doing dad things.
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: But that's okay, because we have a great guest today.
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: He's a really good ball player and a really good guy.
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: Cardinal fans know him. It's Yvonne Herrera. Yvonne, thanks for
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: coming on. We appreciate it.
• 0:30
  Speaker 2: Yeah, of course. Pleasure being here talking to you about baseball.
• 0:33
  Speaker 2: You know, I was trying to talk with you, Ken.
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: Always good, except we are a little ticked off with
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: Lance and Kyle. But that's for another show. All right, Yvonne,
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: I want to talk about the season that was. You
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: guys finished the season 77-85. Most of the season you
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: guys played really good baseball. Exceeded, I think, what a
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: lot of people expected from a team that's in a rebuild.
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: How do you assess the season?
• 1:01
  Speaker 2: I think.
• 1:03
  Speaker 2: It went really good. You know, there's definitely some guys
• 1:06
  Speaker 2: that step forward on the right direction. And, you know,
• 1:09
  Speaker 2: we play a really good baseball. We were close to
• 1:13
  Speaker 2: playoff race. And I think and for the future, I
• 1:16
  Speaker 2: think we're going to do a great thing. So all
• 1:19
  Speaker 2: the guys doing their thing, working really hard to, you know,
• 1:21
  Speaker 2: to get better and help each other to get better.
• 1:25
  Speaker 2: So I think that's a really good, cool thing that
• 1:27
  Speaker 2: we got going on. And I think that's going to
• 1:29
  Speaker 2: be really good for the future.
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: You guys are really a tight group. And a lot
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: of guys will say, oh, this team is tight. This team,
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: they all like each other. This is really a tight group.
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: And tell me if I'm wrong, but it seemed you
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: guys embrace the fact that, oh, this is a young team.
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: They're in a rebuild. No one expects anything. It seems
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: like you guys embrace that and kind of took, you know,
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: some energy from that.
• 1:55
  Speaker 2: Yeah. You know, like we didn't have anything to lose,
• 1:58
  Speaker 2: you know. All we had, we showed everything and played hard.
• 2:01
  Speaker 2: I think that's what we did. I think that's the
• 2:04
  Speaker 2: cool thing about it. You know, nobody expect anything from us.
• 2:06
  Speaker 2: And all of a sudden, we play in the baseball and,
• 2:10
  Speaker 2: you know, everybody start paying attention to us. And then
• 2:14
  Speaker 2: we be really good teams with, like, high payroll, you know. And, like,
• 2:18
  Speaker 2: at the end of the day, that don't matter. I
• 2:20
  Speaker 2: think you got to go out there and, you know, perform.
• 2:23
  Speaker 2: You know, we all capable of playing baseball. So it's
• 2:27
  Speaker 2: night against night out there. I think we did a
• 2:30
  Speaker 2: good job about that.
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: So the rebuild, according to Haim, is something that takes time, right?
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: So they're going to assess how the season went and
• 2:40
  Speaker 1: then figure out, because Haim's goal, and I think everyone's
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: on board, wants him to be contenders to win a
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: World Series every year. So he has to assess where
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: the team is right now. You're on the team. You're
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: a big part of it. I want to ask you,
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: in your opinion, how far away are you guys now
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: from being a team that can't compete to win a
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: World Series?
• 3:05
  Speaker 2: Yeah, that's a very good question. You know, it just
• 3:08
  Speaker 2: doesn't take me. It takes all of the team commitment,
• 3:12
  Speaker 2: you know, to, you know, all the things that we
• 3:14
  Speaker 2: talk about in sprint training, all the things that, you know,
• 3:18
  Speaker 2: when you hear from other teams, it's just like staying
• 3:20
  Speaker 2: together and play 160. Dude, that's a hard part. And,
• 3:24
  Speaker 2: you know, we got great talent in minor leagues, and
• 3:27
  Speaker 2: I think I'd say maybe Two years, three years, I
• 3:32
  Speaker 2: think we got a good chance to be in the
• 3:33
  Speaker 2: World Series. So, you know, I feel like we need
• 3:37
  Speaker 2: to keep going, you know, definitely going in the right direction.
• 3:40
  Speaker 2: And I think we're going to be really doing very soon.
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: 717 this past season than you had before. I know
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: past seasons you had some injuries to deal with. But
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: toward the end of the season, was there like a
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: wear down? Do you feel kind of beat up at
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: the end of a season like that or no?
• 3:59
  Speaker 2: No, man. I'm telling you, I felt great mostly all season.
• 4:04
  Speaker 2: I can't remember how many times I'm like, dude, I
• 4:06
  Speaker 2: feel awful. I feel great. And that's the things that
• 4:12
  Speaker 2: stick with me because at the end of the day,
• 4:15
  Speaker 2: you're going to be tired. That's all come from playing
• 4:19
  Speaker 2: the game. But at least I felt that I was
• 4:23
  Speaker 2: able to compete every game, do the little things. Sometimes
• 4:27
  Speaker 2: I try to play the big game, but I also
• 4:29
  Speaker 2: like playing the small game too.
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: You did get hit by pitches an awful lot this
• 4:36
  Speaker 1: past season. I think with 31, I know you led
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: Major League Baseball in that. You didn't take them where
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: they put you out of the lineup for a week.
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: What do you think that is? Why do you think
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: you get hit by so many pitches?
• 4:50
  Speaker 2: Man, I don't know. I don't know if like people
• 4:52
  Speaker 2: don't like me or something, but I think just, I think,
• 4:56
  Speaker 2: you know, so when I hit the inside part of
• 4:59
  Speaker 2: the play, like I hit the corner good, but I,
• 5:03
  Speaker 2: like I get jammed in off. So when they go in,
• 5:07
  Speaker 2: they try to go in off and that's when I
• 5:09
  Speaker 2: get hit most of the times or like back up spin,
• 5:12
  Speaker 2: you know, I think, I don't think it's personal, but
• 5:15
  Speaker 2: you know, I don't think 31 times is as good.
• 5:18
  Speaker 2: I don't, I hope I don't break that record next year.
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: Have you ever gotten mad though? Cause let's, let's be honest.
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: Like you're a guy that stays pretty calm and collected.
• 5:28
  Speaker 1: Has there, cause I'm thinking back, I don't recall a
• 5:31
  Speaker 1: time where you were glaring at anyone. You kind of
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: just took your medicine and took your base. Was there
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: a time where, yeah, I didn't like this one at all.
• 5:41
  Speaker 2: Yeah. I'd like twice. It was the guy who denied
• 5:44
  Speaker 2: that he'd be twice on a three-year account. So I
• 5:47
  Speaker 2: was like, Are you doing this on purpose just so
• 5:49
  Speaker 2: you don't get a walk? So I kind of got mad.
• 5:53
  Speaker 2: And I won at the end of the year. I
• 5:57
  Speaker 2: don't remember where, but I kind of got hit hard
• 5:59
  Speaker 2: in the ribs. And I was kind of mad just
• 6:02
  Speaker 2: because I just feel like it's a situation where you
• 6:05
  Speaker 2: need to walk me. And then I get hit. That's
• 6:09
  Speaker 2: the way I think about it. But basically, three times
• 6:12
  Speaker 2: out of 31. That's a lot.
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: Let's talk about your defense. We just had Andre Palante on,
• 6:21
  Speaker 1: and he loves throwing to you. And I was asking
• 6:24
  Speaker 1: him why, and he said, and the words he used,
• 6:28
  Speaker 1: that you have a quote-unquote magic sauce on figuring out
• 6:33
  Speaker 1: what the right pitch is to call in certain situations.
• 6:36
  Speaker 1: Where do you think that comes from?
• 6:39
  Speaker 2: I mean, I feel like this year my preparation behind
• 6:42
  Speaker 2: the plate was so much better than in terms of
• 6:44
  Speaker 2: like calling the game, you know, knowing when to pitch
• 6:47
  Speaker 2: to somebody, how to attack hitters. I think I did
• 6:50
  Speaker 2: a job thanks to the Cardinals, you know, Ethan, Ethan
• 6:54
  Speaker 2: Gofford really helped me out this year, you know, get
• 6:57
  Speaker 2: better in the off season. He bring energy every day.
• 7:00
  Speaker 2: He was working out with me and Pogi as well,
• 7:03
  Speaker 2: the defense side. But, you know, I think that's what
• 7:06
  Speaker 2: I need to, I took a step forward in that,
• 7:10
  Speaker 2: you know, throwing side, I definitely need to improve, man. Uh,
• 7:14
  Speaker 2: I'm definitely working to get that. I definitely need to
• 7:17
  Speaker 2: throw harder. I think if I figure that out, I
• 7:19
  Speaker 2: think I'm going to be a very good catcher. I
• 7:21
  Speaker 2: just need to start throwing a little harder and a
• 7:24
  Speaker 2: little more accurate. I think it's going to be a
• 7:26
  Speaker 2: different story.
• 7:28
  Speaker 1: So let's talk about base stealers, potential base stealers. You
• 7:31
  Speaker 1: threw out one guy this year. Now, after the offseason,
• 7:36
  Speaker 1: the season before, you had cleanup surgery on your elbow.
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: And I remember you were telling me, you couldn't get
• 7:42
  Speaker 1: the ball in the proper position to throw. So what
• 7:45
  Speaker 1: do you think the issues are now? Is it physical
• 7:47
  Speaker 1: or is it technique? How do you try to fix that?
• 7:51
  Speaker 2: I think you just actually learn how to throw. Personally,
• 7:57
  Speaker 2: I never really worked on my arm. I did not
• 8:00
  Speaker 2: struggle much before the big leagues, so I didn't put
• 8:04
  Speaker 2: emphasis on that. All my emphasis was on framing, blocking, hitting, running.
• 8:11
  Speaker 2: But these past two years, you know, that's when you struggle,
• 8:15
  Speaker 2: you know, you got to find a way to get better.
• 8:17
  Speaker 2: So that's what I'm trying to do. I think just
• 8:20
  Speaker 2: basically learning how to throw, you know, I ran on.
• 8:24
  Speaker 4: For another program. I'm trying to figure it out, you know,
• 8:27
  Speaker 4: hopefully it can get better. And if it doesn't, man,
• 8:29
  Speaker 4: you just got to find a way. So I would
• 8:32
  Speaker 4: say just learning how to throw is the answer, honestly.
• 8:37
  Speaker 1: So tell me about where you go to work on that.
• 8:40
  Speaker 1: I know You can go to different places to specialize
• 8:44
  Speaker 1: in your pop, as they say. And I recall as
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: a minor leader, I think we've talked about it before,
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: like you had to renovate the way you approached your
• 8:54
  Speaker 1: at-bats at the plate in terms of stance. I know
• 8:56
  Speaker 1: you sort of renovated your whole defense. Your career, you've
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: had to work to get to this point. So where
• 9:02
  Speaker 1: does the work start now in trying to tackle that
• 9:05
  Speaker 1: issue of throwing guys out?
• 9:08
  Speaker 2: Yeah, that word start, like, it'll start right now. I
• 9:12
  Speaker 2: started my program this Monday. I'm going to continue to
• 9:16
  Speaker 2: work on that. I think it's just, like, you got
• 9:20
  Speaker 2: to figure it out, man. Like, it don't matter how
• 9:22
  Speaker 2: you do it. You know, I try to figure it
• 9:24
  Speaker 2: out in every way. You know, I hit it and
• 9:25
  Speaker 2: I figure out my stance, you know, how I feel comfortable.
• 9:29
  Speaker 2: I think I got to find the right way to
• 9:32
  Speaker 2: throw the second, you know, I feel comfortable. I think
• 9:34
  Speaker 2: it's just... You know, and it takes a toll mentally,
• 9:37
  Speaker 2: you know, like you struggle with that. So you put
• 9:40
  Speaker 2: extra pressure. I think I've been super pressure about it because,
• 9:43
  Speaker 2: you know, honestly, that's the only thing I feel like
• 9:46
  Speaker 2: I struggle with. You know, I don't I don't really
• 9:48
  Speaker 2: like do a lot of pass goals. I don't really
• 9:50
  Speaker 2: miss a lot of blocks. So I think, you know,
• 9:53
  Speaker 2: I'm going about it, you know, since now that we're
• 9:55
  Speaker 2: going to have a lot of time to get better,
• 9:58
  Speaker 2: you know, with the lockdown and everything. I'm going to
• 10:01
  Speaker 2: put a lot of work on that. And, you know,
• 10:03
  Speaker 2: like I say, I'm hoping that it's going to get
• 10:05
  Speaker 2: better for this year.
• 10:07
  Speaker 1: How much of a mental toll does that take? Because
• 10:09
  Speaker 1: as a catcher, you've got a million things to think about.
• 10:12
  Speaker 1: The workday starts early. I know you guys are in
• 10:15
  Speaker 1: meetings and then, You got other stuff to work on.
• 10:18
  Speaker 1: Is that in the back of your mind when you
• 10:20
  Speaker 1: know you're having issues with that one piece of your game?
• 10:24
  Speaker 5: Yeah.
• 10:25
  Speaker 2: I mean, let me put it like this. If you
• 10:27
  Speaker 2: can't get spin, miss all the fast of the scene
• 10:30
  Speaker 2: just because you're looking for it. So it's the same
• 10:32
  Speaker 2: thing when I'm catching. Like, I try to focus so
• 10:35
  Speaker 2: much about throwing. That's something I forget about. Like, the
• 10:38
  Speaker 2: framing a little bit just because I'm so focused on
• 10:42
  Speaker 2: that because that's basically all the tip. most other thing
• 10:45
  Speaker 2: that I struggle with, you know, is throwing. So it's
• 10:48
  Speaker 2: just like, like I said, mentally, you put a lot
• 10:51
  Speaker 2: of doubt to yourself just for not being able to
• 10:54
  Speaker 2: do it. And that, you know, like that pressure adds up,
• 10:57
  Speaker 2: you know, when I'm beating out the field pressure as
• 11:00
  Speaker 2: much as when I do catch him to throw somebody else.
• 11:03
  Speaker 5: I would rather like get 20 curveballs in the delante than,
• 11:09
  Speaker 5: you know, think about throwing, you know what I mean? Like,
• 11:11
  Speaker 5: it's just, I put a little extra pressure on myself
• 11:14
  Speaker 5: when I throw, but like I said, I just need
• 11:17
  Speaker 5: to work to get better.
• 11:20
  Speaker 1: So, Yvonne, you guys are stacked with talent at the
• 11:25
  Speaker 1: catching position, right? You got you, you got Pajes, you
• 11:30
  Speaker 1: got Bernal, you got Crooks, you got Rodriguez coming up.
• 11:34
  Speaker 1: I'm just curious, with all that talent, you guys are
• 11:39
  Speaker 1: The goal is to win for the team, but there's
• 11:41
  Speaker 1: also competition, too. How do you manage that, knowing all
• 11:45
  Speaker 1: these guys want to catch, you want to catch because
• 11:47
  Speaker 1: you love catching? How do you manage that? Because it
• 11:50
  Speaker 1: seems like you guys are all pulling together, which I
• 11:53
  Speaker 1: think is a little unusual. How do you manage that?
• 11:57
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I think, you know, when you build culture and
• 11:59
  Speaker 2: you build friendship, I mean, you want to support all
• 12:02
  Speaker 2: your teammates, but At the end of the day, I
• 12:07
  Speaker 2: believe whoever does the job should earn the opportunities. I
• 12:11
  Speaker 2: feel like I haven't earned the job, and I'm not
• 12:15
  Speaker 2: lying if I don't cash. When I earn, we got
• 12:19
  Speaker 2: to look at that. Just support your teammates. We got
• 12:24
  Speaker 2: great guys like Pat Harris, troops. We all support each other,
• 12:28
  Speaker 2: don't matter how. If you need anything, we're going to
• 12:31
  Speaker 2: be there for you. It's just going at the long run.
• 12:37
  Speaker 2: It's just not about me. It's not about Bernal. It's
• 12:41
  Speaker 2: not about all the guys. It's about winning, and it's
• 12:44
  Speaker 2: about caring about your teammates and pushing everybody to get better.
• 12:48
  Speaker 2: I think it's all about that, and I don't think
• 12:51
  Speaker 2: there's any negative around any of us. We all push
• 12:54
  Speaker 2: to get better.
• 12:55
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I agree. I've seen it firsthand. You got to admit,
• 13:00
  Speaker 1: Bernal was impressive since he was called up. When you
• 13:04
  Speaker 1: look at that young guy, and you forget how young
• 13:06
  Speaker 1: he is, he did a lot of things the right way.
• 13:10
  Speaker 1: Tell me what impressed Bernal, or what impressed you about
• 13:14
  Speaker 1: what Bernal was able to show he can do.
• 13:17
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I think I'm very impressed with just the ability
• 13:20
  Speaker 2: to show me the big leads and be good real quick.
• 13:25
  Speaker 2: He put really good numbers right away. That thing is
• 13:30
  Speaker 2: hard to do. You see guys that had great careers in, like,
• 13:33
  Speaker 2: the minor leagues and come to the big leagues and struggle.
• 13:35
  Speaker 2: I think mentally it's hard to just... And then also
• 13:41
  Speaker 2: lead the pitch and stuff. You know, we got veterans,
• 13:43
  Speaker 2: we got young guys. And he did a really good
• 13:48
  Speaker 2: job with that, you know, hitting with scoring position. I
• 13:51
  Speaker 2: think he did every single little thing good. Even the throwing,
• 13:55
  Speaker 2: he throws really hard second, you know. He did everything
• 13:59
  Speaker 2: good and I'm very impressed with the things he did.
• 14:02
  Speaker 1: Now, you guys had Yachty around a lot this year.
• 14:06
  Speaker 1: Tell me, because I see Yachty working with you guys.
• 14:09
  Speaker 1: I see him in the video room. Tell me what
• 14:11
  Speaker 1: it's like working with Yachty. What does he tell, you know,
• 14:14
  Speaker 1: the guys who were trying to get to where he
• 14:16
  Speaker 1: was as a catcher? What does he share with you?
• 14:19
  Speaker 2: Man, he definitely shared the secret sauce, you know what
• 14:22
  Speaker 2: I mean? Like, he got all the experience, he got
• 14:25
  Speaker 2: all the experience, and he cares. He really cares. I
• 14:30
  Speaker 2: have so much respect for this guy just because, You know,
• 14:33
  Speaker 2: when I was coming on the minor leagues, he was
• 14:35
  Speaker 2: every day working with us, 7 a.m., early work. Like,
• 14:39
  Speaker 2: he would already have, I don't know, 12 years in
• 14:41
  Speaker 2: the big leagues, 10 years in the big leagues, and
• 14:43
  Speaker 2: he was there with us, helping us, you know, like,
• 14:46
  Speaker 2: teaching us details, fundamentals. And I think that's something I
• 14:50
  Speaker 2: respect a lot, just because he really cares about the team,
• 14:54
  Speaker 2: and he really cares about who was going to take
• 14:56
  Speaker 2: his spot or the people coming up. And I think
• 14:58
  Speaker 2: that deserves so much respect because, you know, most guys...
• 15:03
  Speaker 2: Just care about what they're doing, minding their own business,
• 15:06
  Speaker 2: which is fine. But when you have guys like that
• 15:08
  Speaker 2: that really care, that's when you know they have the
• 15:11
  Speaker 2: hall of fame career that they have. And they care
• 15:14
  Speaker 2: about all the pictures that they had in the past.
• 15:17
  Speaker 2: So I think that deserves so much respect.
• 15:21
  Speaker 1: Is there an intimidation factor when you're working with Yachty?
• 15:25
  Speaker 2: I mean.
• 15:26
  Speaker 1: especially if you haven't worked with him in the past.
• 15:28
  Speaker 1: I know he's a good dude, but it's Yachty. Tell me,
• 15:31
  Speaker 1: as a young player, you're not intimidated by having a
• 15:34
  Speaker 1: guy like that around.
• 15:36
  Speaker 2: I mean, the first years I was, the relationship got
• 15:40
  Speaker 2: better and everything got better. And, you know, I feel
• 15:45
  Speaker 2: like if you're young, you should ask him questions. He likes,
• 15:49
  Speaker 2: he loves talking about baseball. I think that's one of
• 15:52
  Speaker 2: the reasons why he plays so much baseball. And he
• 15:54
  Speaker 2: still wants to be in baseball, so He loves this sport.
• 15:57
  Speaker 2: He enjoys helping out everybody. And I think it's, you know,
• 16:00
  Speaker 2: it's cool to have him around.
• 16:01
  Speaker 1: Hey, everybody.
• 16:04
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• 16:07
  Speaker 3: You got the NFL. You got the NBA about to start.
• 16:10
  Speaker 3: You got college football. You got hockey going on here.
• 16:14
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• 16:17
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• 16:27
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• 16:33
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  Speaker 6: can use it later.
• 17:01
  Speaker 2: Gracias, SeatGeek.
• 17:03
  Speaker 1: I'm going to ask you this because I think I
• 17:05
  Speaker 1: asked you about it maybe once or twice during the
• 17:07
  Speaker 1: regular season. But you're a guy who's an athlete, right?
• 17:10
  Speaker 1: You see some catchers, maybe they're not as athletic as
• 17:14
  Speaker 1: other guys. So based on the fact that there's so
• 17:17
  Speaker 1: many catchers and you want to catch, so I'm stipulating,
• 17:20
  Speaker 1: you love being behind the plate. I'll ask you about
• 17:22
  Speaker 1: that in a minute. But you could play outfield. You
• 17:26
  Speaker 1: could play first base. Has anyone talked to you about
• 17:29
  Speaker 1: maybe starting to do some of that stuff just in
• 17:32
  Speaker 1: case they need flexibility or you're catching?
• 17:37
  Speaker 2: I mean, nobody has talked to me about anything. You know,
• 17:41
  Speaker 2: I see myself as a catcher just because, like I say,
• 17:44
  Speaker 2: all I show is throwing. So if I can get
• 17:46
  Speaker 2: that good, you know, I feel like I can be
• 17:48
  Speaker 2: really good. You know, I can be really good offensively
• 17:51
  Speaker 2: as a catcher. I can be really good defensively as
• 17:53
  Speaker 2: a catcher. All the things I'm struggling with that. So,
• 17:56
  Speaker 2: you know, like I said, I'm working towards it. But
• 17:59
  Speaker 2: at the end of the day, if things don't work out,
• 18:01
  Speaker 2: you know, you got to find a way to just
• 18:03
  Speaker 2: stick in the big leagues, no matter how. You know,
• 18:06
  Speaker 2: I'm not saying I can't play under a position, but
• 18:08
  Speaker 2: I'm open to it. I'm open to play wherever the
• 18:11
  Speaker 2: team wants me to play. You know, I already tried
• 18:13
  Speaker 2: the outfield. I don't think it was bad. You know,
• 18:15
  Speaker 2: I think I got, I caught all the fly balls, but.
• 18:18
  Speaker 2: It was definitely scary. I never played outfield since I
• 18:22
  Speaker 2: was like 15 years old. So, you know, it's the
• 18:25
  Speaker 2: first game I was definitely so nervous. It was crazy.
• 18:29
  Speaker 1: Yeah. I mean, they put you out there, you made
• 18:31
  Speaker 1: the plays. I was just wondering about that, but you've
• 18:35
  Speaker 1: always said, I want to catch. What is it about
• 18:38
  Speaker 1: catching that you love? Like, cause let's be honest, like
• 18:42
  Speaker 1: you got to work your butt off in that, in
• 18:44
  Speaker 1: that position. What do you love about it?
• 18:46
  Speaker 2: Man, I just feel like I'm, You know, I'm like,
• 18:50
  Speaker 2: I like suffering or like getting paid. You know, I
• 18:53
  Speaker 2: always been that way. You know, like I like all
• 18:57
  Speaker 2: these kind of like the hard things. I really enjoy
• 19:01
  Speaker 2: the easy things. I think all the hard things come
• 19:04
  Speaker 2: with like with work. I feel like all I have
• 19:07
  Speaker 2: shifted my career just because like I did that, you know,
• 19:10
  Speaker 2: and there's like there was always people calling me out
• 19:13
  Speaker 2: on everything I do. So I think that's what I enjoy.
• 19:15
  Speaker 2: You know, people call me out on the throwing side.
• 19:18
  Speaker 2: saying that I can catch, that I can throw, but,
• 19:20
  Speaker 2: you know, I just continue to build for myself and
• 19:23
  Speaker 2: I know I can, I can achieve this goal in
• 19:25
  Speaker 2: the future.
• 19:27
  Speaker 1: So you're saying when, when you hear the negativity that
• 19:31
  Speaker 1: fuels you, you get.
• 19:33
  Speaker 2: Some of that? Yeah, 100%. Like, I always say, man,
• 19:36
  Speaker 2: in Panama, nobody, like, said I was going to make
• 19:40
  Speaker 2: it even pro, you know, so, like, scouts invited me
• 19:43
  Speaker 2: to tryouts just so I can catch the bullpen for
• 19:46
  Speaker 2: the other guys. That's how it was over here, so.
• 19:48
  Speaker 2: I think that that's what mentally has really helped me, like,
• 19:52
  Speaker 2: push to get better. So, that's how I really, like,
• 19:55
  Speaker 2: that's the, that fuels me to, you know, all the hate,
• 19:58
  Speaker 2: all the stuff is just, like, bang. but if I
• 20:01
  Speaker 2: do it right, then what you're going to say about,
• 20:03
  Speaker 2: you know what I mean? And, but I do not
• 20:05
  Speaker 2: care what people say, you know.
• 20:06
  Speaker 1: What I mean?
• 20:06
  Speaker 2: It's just like, Oh, you say that, but I'm going
• 20:08
  Speaker 2: to prove you wrong. That's it. But I do not
• 20:10
  Speaker 2: care what anybody says.
• 20:13
  Speaker 1: Sure. It's motivation. All right. So you handle a pitching
• 20:16
  Speaker 1: staff that has some young pitchers in it. I think
• 20:20
  Speaker 1: they put the starting rotation in particular, very solid this year.
• 20:23
  Speaker 1: So I'm going to put you on the spot, understanding
• 20:26
  Speaker 1: that stuff is just one part of pitching, right? Like,
• 20:30
  Speaker 1: You can have the best stuff in the world and
• 20:32
  Speaker 1: not have location or not be able to think your
• 20:35
  Speaker 1: way through it. But in terms of stuff, which starter
• 20:39
  Speaker 1: on the Cardinals has the best stuff?
• 20:43
  Speaker 2: Starting on the Cardinals with best stuff. Uh, you know,
• 20:49
  Speaker 2: I like, I like Michael McGreevy just because like the
• 20:54
  Speaker 2: command wise, all of that, uh, It's tough. Leahy got
• 20:58
  Speaker 2: good breaking balls. I think that's really good stuff. Leahy
• 21:02
  Speaker 2: got good here. I think Leahy is one of the
• 21:06
  Speaker 2: ones with nasty stuff that I like catching. I caught
• 21:08
  Speaker 2: him the last start of the year, so got him once,
• 21:11
  Speaker 2: and I was like, oh, man, I understand why he's
• 21:13
  Speaker 2: having such a good year.
• 21:16
  Speaker 1: Leahy always wanted to start. They gave him a shot.
• 21:18
  Speaker 1: He was really good this year. I think a lot
• 21:21
  Speaker 1: of people don't understand him. On the bump, on the mound,
• 21:24
  Speaker 1: he's a competitor, but he's so quiet. Like, I don't
• 21:27
  Speaker 1: think people understand that you can be a quiet guy
• 21:31
  Speaker 1: in the clubhouse and be nasty on the mound. Explain
• 21:35
  Speaker 1: what it's like working with him because he is a
• 21:38
  Speaker 1: quiet guy.
• 21:39
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I've been working with Ace since like 2019, you know, 2019.
• 21:47
  Speaker 2: And he's always been the same guy, quiet guy. You know,
• 21:51
  Speaker 2: I don't really talk much. I'm always asking him questions. Hey,
• 21:54
  Speaker 2: what's up, bro? You know, how you feel? So I
• 21:57
  Speaker 2: can get some words out of him, but, you know,
• 21:59
  Speaker 2: it just, it don't matter what the way you are
• 22:01
  Speaker 2: outside the field. I mean, all it matters is the
• 22:04
  Speaker 2: way you go about your business in there, you know,
• 22:06
  Speaker 2: the way you show up and you work, you know,
• 22:10
  Speaker 2: you see him every day working with CC in the
• 22:13
  Speaker 2: training room, you know, every day showing up. And he's
• 22:16
  Speaker 2: just not, not just, he's not lucky. He put the
• 22:18
  Speaker 2: work out there too. So, you know, being quiet and
• 22:21
  Speaker 2: it don't matter. It don't, it don't really matter. Just
• 22:24
  Speaker 2: gotta go out there and, you know, act like a cat,
• 22:26
  Speaker 2: like a cat, like a dog. Not like a cat,
• 22:29
  Speaker 2: like a dog.
• 22:30
  Speaker 1: I got you like a dog. You can say cat
• 22:32
  Speaker 1: cause I'm the cat. Last thing. And I don't think
• 22:35
  Speaker 1: I've ever asked you this. What do you do? Like
• 22:38
  Speaker 1: you got time in the off season. I know you're training.
• 22:41
  Speaker 1: I know you're working. What do you do for fun?
• 22:43
  Speaker 1: What does Yvonne Herrera do for fun in the offseason? Like,
• 22:46
  Speaker 1: what's a fun day for you?
• 22:50
  Speaker 4: Fun day for me is, you know, maybe go to the.
• 22:54
  Speaker 2: Beach, maybe on the weekend. And, you know, I like
• 22:59
  Speaker 2: doing all kind of like, like fighting, honestly, you know.
• 23:04
  Speaker 2: I love doing that. I think that's my fun. I think,
• 23:07
  Speaker 2: like I said, I like, I like feeling pain. So
• 23:11
  Speaker 2: I like, Just, you know, getting here a little bit.
• 23:13
  Speaker 2: It's just like, that's my hobby.
• 23:16
  Speaker 1: Wait, so you're saying like mixed martial arts stuff you do?
• 23:20
  Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah. I like doing that. It's fun. It's really fun.
• 23:23
  Speaker 2: Just like slow, you know, I don't go crazy, you know,
• 23:26
  Speaker 2: I'm not trying to get hurt, but it's very fun
• 23:28
  Speaker 2: to me.
• 23:30
  Speaker 1: Well, that also gives people something to think about next
• 23:33
  Speaker 1: time they decide to plunk you with a pitch in
• 23:35
  Speaker 1: the ribs that you're an MMA guy, right?
• 23:39
  Speaker 2: I don't really like fighting people, but if I have
• 23:42
  Speaker 2: to do it, then, you know, I'll just do it.
• 23:46
  Speaker 1: Ivan, we appreciate the visit. It's fun watching you. It's
• 23:50
  Speaker 1: fun dealing with you during the season, seeing you in
• 23:52
  Speaker 1: the clubhouse. Everybody loves Ivan Herrera. Thanks for coming on.
• 23:56
  Speaker 1: I do appreciate you.
• 23:58
  Speaker 2: Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for the interview.
• 24:02
  Speaker 1: That's it for this edition of Cardinal Territory. We'll see
• 24:05
  Speaker 1: you next time. Hopefully that episode will be sad.