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St. Louis Cardinals: Predicting the lineup for the team’s return to action

By Matt Graves

PORT ST. LUCIE, FL - MARCH 11: Matt Carpenter #13 of the St. Louis Cardinals is congratulated by Tyler O'Neill #41 after he hit a home run against of the New York Mets during the fourth inning of a spring training baseball game at Clover Park at on March 11, 2020 in Port St. Lucie, Florida. The Mets defeated the Cardinals 7-3. (Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images)
PORT ST. LUCIE, FL - MARCH 11: Matt Carpenter #13 of the St. Louis Cardinals is congratulated by Tyler O'Neill #41 after he hit a home run against of the New York Mets during the fourth inning of a spring training baseball game at Clover Park at on March 11, 2020 in Port St. Lucie, Florida. The Mets defeated the Cardinals 7-3. (Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images) /
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The St. Louis Cardinals will get back on the field tomorrow in Chicago with a very different roster than what they had the last time they played. What could the lineup look like?

We are now less than 24 hours away from the scheduled return of the St. Louis Cardinals.

However, if they get back on the field, the team will look drastically different than when fans last saw them play on July 29th, over two weeks ago. 10 players and eight staffers have tested positive for COVID-19 and looking at just the active roster, 36% of the roster will be different upon return.

Because the Cardinals have lost so many players, the door has been opened for the debut of top prospect Dylan Carlson, along with a few other rookies. For the weekend, the Cardinals should be arriving in Chicago today after the team rented 41 different cars for the players. The team is scheduled to play starting at just after noon tomorrow, with many doubleheaders on the schedule.

When they start, they will have Dylan Carlson in the lineup. They will also be without Paul DeJong and Yadier Molina. Here’s my best guess at what the lineup could look like.

  1. Kolten Wong, 2B
  2. Tommy Edman, SS
  3. Paul Goldschmidt, 1B
  4. Tyler O’Neill, LF
  5. Matt Carpenter, 3B
  6. Dylan Carlson, RF
  7. Dexter Fowler, DH
  8. Matt Wieters, C
  9. Harrison Bader, CF

Let’s unpack.

For the top two in the lineup, the offense starts with them. So far, Wong and Edman have combined for nine hits, two walks, one homer, and four RBI in 40 at-bats. If the two of them can’t get things going, the offense is going to have a tough time.

After those two come the team’s two biggest boppers. While his peripherals are bad, Paul Goldschmidt is batting over .300 with an .855 OPS in just five games. Everyone is going to need to step up if the Cardinals are going to have any chance to compete in 2020, but the most weight falls on Goldschmidt’s shoulders. Tyler O’Neill leads the team with an .894 OPS (don’t mind his .200 average) and is a logical sub for Paul DeJong at cleanup.

Matt Carpenter wasn’t doing much with the bat before the season stopped but is an easy choice to keep in the middle of the lineup. Behind him at the sixth spot comes Carlson. In his first stretch in the bigs, there’s no reason to put Carlson in a high-pressure spot in the lineup. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him even lower off the bat.

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As I suggested back in April, moving Dexter Fowler to the DH spot would be a good way to keep Fowler’s on-base skill in the lineup while minimizing his defensive woes. Carpenter was the normal DH before the shutdown, but with DeJong out, he needs to play third base.

As much as I want to see Andrew Knizner get the bulk of the playing time while Yadi is out, I believe it’s best to give Matt Wieters the start in the first game back tomorrow. The Cardinals are going to be rusty and having his veteran presence behind the plate will take some pressure off of others.

Fans may be calling for his head, but I believe Harrison Bader is going to keep getting starts in center field for the time being. You can give up on him contributing at the plate if you want, but the Cardinals will succeed in 2020 on the backs of their defense. For the defense to be it’s strongest, they need Bader in center. Also, the team only has four outfielders on the active roster. Either Bader or Fowler is going to have to be in the lineup each day.

The Cardinals will have plenty of flexibility with Brad Miller healthy as a DH or third base option, but for now, I think that is the A-team that the Cards can field. They have more games than fans are ready to watch coming up very soon and will need all hands on deck.

Next. Cardinals stay grounded for their trip to Chicago. dark

There is a good possibility that the Cardinals are just plain bad when they return to play on Saturday. Even when their roster gets healthy, nobody will have time to get up to game speed before returning. It’ll be trial by fire, but at least they’ll be playing.

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