St. Louis Cardinals catcher Pedro Pagés is used to being behind the plate. Of his 77 MLB appearances heading into Friday night's game against the Philadelphia Phillies, all but one have been at catcher. The sole outlier was an appearance last year at first base.
Pagés was unexpectedly moved from catcher to second base Friday due to an injury to Cardinals shortstop Masyn Winn. Once Winn was removed, St. Louis moved second baseman Thomas Saggese over to short and Pagés to second base to avoid losing their designated hitter for the rest of the game.
Brendan Donovan, who has started nine of the Cardinals' 13 games so far this season at second base, was the DH on Friday. If St. Louis simply moved Donovan from DH to the field, they would not have been able to use a DH to bat in place of their pitcher for the rest of the game.
That's where Pagés comes in. According to MLB.com's Cardinals reporter John Denton, Pagés estimated that Friday was the first time he played second base since he was 11 years old.
“Never did I think I would play second base in the big leagues,” Pagés, who even had to borrow Donovan's glove for the night, said.
Pagés fielded two ground balls hit his way for outs as the Cardinals held onto a 2-0 win over the Phillies. He went 1-for-3 at the plate and looked pretty comfortable as an infielder, considering the circumstances.
Here is a look at catcher Pedro Pagés' first play as a ... second baseman: A slow roller off the bat of Brandon Marsh that he handled without issue. pic.twitter.com/iEcHSamhea
— John Denton (@JohnDenton555) April 12, 2025
And the Cardinals gave him some credit for it on social media:
Pedro Pagés is tied for the highest fielding percentage at second base in Major League history! pic.twitter.com/KLh3EE2kaw
— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) April 12, 2025
The traditional catcher may have turned into more of a utility player thanks to the clever substitution.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Cardinals Catcher Played Second Base for First Time Since He Was 11 for Clever Reason.
