Cardinals News: Harrison Bader returns to lineup Wednesday with pressure on

Harrison Bader has missed some time with a forearm issue but returns Wednesday for the St. Louis Cardinals.

So far this spring, the St. Louis Cardinals’ outfield competition has been a fun one to watch. While Dylan Carlson has struggled some, he’s playing well enough to still keep his spot in right field.

On the other side of the outfield, Tyler O’Neill has been tearing the cover off the ball, batting .417 with six RBI. Keeping up with O’Neill has been Lane Thomas who, outside of his eight strikeouts in 15 at-bats, has five hits.

The other player at the top of the outfield competition is the incumbent center fielder, Harrison Bader. Bader has just four at-bats this spring because he’s been held out by a forearm issue. According to manager Mike Shildt, Bader’s injury isn’t serious but he hasn’t played since last Tuesday.

Anytime an outfielder is held out for an issue in their throwing arm there is some worry, but Bader is returning to the lineup on Wednesday.

In the four at-bats that Bader does have, he has a double that came against a lefty last week. The sample is super small right now, but Bader will have to keep up performance when he returns.

The chances that Lane Thomas supplants Bader this spring are very low. However, the team and fans got a glimpse over the past week of how good Thomas is defensively in center field. He may not be at Bader’s level, but he can definitely run stuff down.

Right now, Carlson may be facing more pressure from Thomas than Bader is, but if the team sticks to their word, whoever hits will play. If Carlson or Bader aren’t hitting and Lane Thomas is, you never know what could happen.

Because Bader has only played in two games, we haven’t gotten a chance to really see if his approach has changed compared to previous seasons. His swing does look a little bit different, but that wasn’t always the issue—it’s his pitch selection.

Again, I’d put the chances that Bader loses his starting job in center very very low, but there will be pressure on him to perform.

If nothing else, it’s good to see Bader back in the lineup. It’s unclear if he received outside treatment for his arm issue, but his arm in center is an important asset that needs to be right.