Pagés family gets storybook moment at Wrigley

This story was excerpted from John Denton’s Cardinals Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

CHICAGO -- “How can you not be romantic about baseball?”

Take, for example, the downright surreal and syrupy-sweet scene surrounding Cardinals rookie catcher Pedro Pagés all weekend at Wrigley Field. With the Cardinals set to begin a three-game series Monday night in Miami, Pages preemptively told his South Florida-based family to “save their money” and just see him play against the Marlins instead of traveling to Chicago for Father’s Day weekend.

Man, isn’t Edgar Pagés happy he didn’t listen to his son?

With Edgar, sister Maria and fiancé Kori all sitting approximately 20 rows behind home plate, Pedro put on a show all weekend that his family won’t soon forget. Pedro broke a scoreless tie on Friday in the eighth inning with a home run that cut through Wrigley’s swirling winds and sent the Cardinals on their way to a 3-0 win in the series opener.

Then, on Sunday, Pedro kissed karma by homering on Father’s Day -- with his father dancing in the aisles and constantly wiping tears from his eyes over the joyous moment. Once again, the home run proved to be the difference in the game with the Cardinals beating the rival Cubs, 2-1, to take the series.

Seated in row 10 of Wrigley’s section 118 as Pedro touched home, Edgar said he felt like the whole family was swinging the bat for those game-changing blasts -- just a few feet away from when his son flashed an “I love you” sign to his family in the stands.

“Sitting where we are, we feel super connected to him right now,” Edgar said. “From here, it’s almost like we have our hands on his shoulders, helping him know, ‘Hey, you got this! Let’s do it!’”

Again, how can you not be romantic about baseball?

Pagés -- who for years thought he would never make it to the big leagues because he was buried behind franchise icon Yadier Molina, All-Star Willson Contreras and even prized rookie Iván Herrera -- has become quite the revelation for the Cardinals. Because he’s so adept at handling St. Louis’ pitching staff, Pagés got his fourth straight start and made his sixth appearance in the past seven games.

With Contreras set to begin a Minor League rehab assignment on Tuesday and likely to return by the weekend, it’s no certainty now that Pagés will be the catcher sent back to Triple-A Memphis to make room on the roster. Maybe the Cardinals will keep three catchers at the big league level because pitchers on staff like throwing to the 25-year-old catcher so much.

The numbers back up Pagés' effectiveness behind the plate. Among catchers with at least 250 pitches caught, his 47.8 percent strike rate ranks 23rd in the Majors. His ability to get low strikes for his pitchers and pull back strikes on the corners ranks not far behind what mentor and Yankees backstop Jose Trevino (50.8 percent) has done this season.

“The person who has taught me the most about pitch-framing has been Jose Trevino of the Yankees, because I have been fortunate enough to work with him in the offseason the past two years now,” Pagés said. “I go there once a week in the summer and work with him. I always cared about getting strikes and stuff, but he taught me so much about the new ways of catching. I’m always talking to [assistant coach/bullpen catcher Jamie Pogue], Willson and Iván to make sure we’re hitting it hard, preparing the right ways and getting in the right positions.”

The Pagés family was in the right position all weekend, anchored down at Wrigley Field to see Pedro play like he was the lead character in some feel-good sports movie. From the catcher hitting a Spring Training homer on the day he proposed to Kori, to being forced to take a four-hour Uber ride to get to the big league, to FaceTiming with Edgar after he got within sight of Busch Stadium, to homering on Father’s Day with his father nearby ... it’s all been somewhat shocking to the family.

“This whole season has felt like one long movie,” Pagés’ sister Maria said. “From him getting the [MLB] callup, to getting sent down, to getting called back up again. He proposed this year, and he didn’t just shock Kori, he surprised all of us, too. And now to be here this weekend and see all that Pedro has done, there are no words other than … amazing!”

How can you not be romantic about baseball?