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WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Ivan Herrera didn’t sound like he regrets playing through arm pain last season. If anything, the Cardinals catcher regretted that he let it slip out last season when he’d gotten an injection to relieve that pain. If he could rewind time, he’d probably keep that tidbit to himself.

This week, Herrera acknowledged those issues when asked. Then, he tried to steer away from the topic.

After all, Herrera knows his difficulty in throwing out runners is the big knock against him, and that has only picked up steam in the past year. Any mention of arm pain would just be low-hanging fruit for those already questioning his ability to handle catching duties.

Herrera, 24, devoted his offseason to addressing his throwing issues — from a physical standpoint as well as in terms of his throwing mechanics.

“All I wanted to do was be ready for the season, have my body in a good position to succeed,� Herrera said while standing a few feet from the team bus Wednesday at CACTI Park of the Palm Beaches. “I think that’s what I’m doing. I think I put in really good work. I feel 100% for this year.

“There’s a lot of negative stuff out there, but I don’t really focus on that. I know the kind of player I am, and I know I can play in the big leagues.�

Herrera got exposed to a lot of playing time after starting catcher Willson Contreras suffered a broken arm in early May.

As a result, Herrera’s arm also got exposed. He threw out just 4 of 59 attempted base stealers (6.8%) last season. The MLB average last season for throwing out runners was 21%.

During a stint on the injured list for lower back tightness in June, Herrera received an injection for the pain in his throwing arm. While Herrera initially revealed he’d had the injection, he later downplayed the arm issues as the criticism mounted about his poor rate of throwing out base runners.

Now several months removed from the end of last season, surely Herrera might reveal more about just how much the pain impacted his throwing? Perhaps with just a little prodding?

Well, not exactly.

“I’m not here to (make) excuses,� Herrera said politely. “I’m not that guy. All I wanted to do was be there for the team when they needed me. Even putting my arm on the line like that was fine. I would do it again for the team because that’s the kind of player I am. At the end of the day, all I want to do is win and help the team win. That’s what I was trying to do.

“Even when I was playing like that, we were winning a lot. I think when Willson got hurt, we were second-to-last, then we jumped to second place. I feel like I was helping win some games. I was OK with trying to still play like that. Then I hurt my back, and I got sent down. I went back to Triple-A. After that, I came back to the big leagues, and I was better after I got the shot for my arm.�

The reality is that Herrera, the Cardinals minor league player of the year in 2023, hadn’t drawn rave reviews for his throwing arm in the minors. Third-party publications such as Baseball America and rated his throwing arm as fringe-average to a tick above average in 2020. During the 2022 season, he threw out just 18% of base stealers.

Arm pain or not, Herrera’s throwing needed to take a step forward this winter as the Cardinals prepared to fully hand the daily catching reins over to him and Pedro Pages.

That’s where Driveline Baseball entered the picture. The Seattle-based data-driven baseball lab initially gained prominence for its work with pitchers.

This winter, Herrera trained at Driveline’s facility in Tampa, Florida. He got on a throwing program that included throwing weighted balls and a long-toss regimen. The program aimed to improve his arm strength and retool his throwing motion/arm path, and it also built a routine to maintain his arm.

“You learn new things,� Herrera said. “Like I kind of changed the angle I throw because that was making my arm hurt. You learn new stuff there because that’s something related to pitchers, more for arm.

“I don’t think I ever had an issue with my arm like last year. I never struggled to throw guys out until I made it to the big leagues. That was eye-opening for me. Then I went back and worked on it.�

The Cardinals struggled offensively last season, and Herrera can flat swing the bat. He hit throughout the minors. In 96 games in the majors, Herrera has slashed .289/.365/.398. He hits fastballs, breaking balls, off-speed pitches. His bat is potentially a big piece for their lineup.

“He knows who he is offensively, and he does a nice job of putting together professional at-bats,� Cardinals manager Oli Marmol said. “That’s not the concern.�

So did Herrera fix his throwing problems this offseason?

The truth is we’re still waiting to find out. Herrera expressed confidence that the work he put in has paid dividends. Of course, skeptics will likely view his arm as a liability until he proves otherwise. And there are plenty of skeptics.

So far this spring, he has caught 35 innings spread out over seven games. He’s caught one runner stealing and two had successful stolen base attempts against him.

The chances to assess Herrera’s improvement have been “limited,� by Marmol’s own admission.

“He’s working hard at it,� Marmol said. “In the mornings, as far as his weight room stuff, as far as repatterning his throwing and just some of the Plyo balls. He’s got a good routine. Now, it’s a matter of it takes time for it to show. So our hope is that’s exactly what happens.�