Analyzing the St. Louis Cardinals’ Spring Training Day 1 lineup

The St. Louis Cardinals are set to take on Houston Astros at 12:05 on March 18. Here is a look at the Redbirds’ first lineup of the season.

The St. Louis Cardinals are finally back! With the first spring training game scheduled for 12:05 on March 18, they have announced their first starting lineup of the season.

While this starting lineup is noticeably missing Yadier Molina, who is scheduled to be the Opening Day starting catcher, this is presumably the starting lineup that will be used often as the 2022 regular season commences.

Starting at the top of the lineup, the first two hitters are not out of the ordinary. Tommy Edman and Paul Goldschmidt were the primary lead-off hitters last season and have returned to those roles to start 2022.

The third and fourth hitters are somewhat interesting. Tyler O’Neill and Nolan Arenado are batting third and fourth, respectively. This will be a storyline to follow as the season progresses. Which spot delivers more RBI opportunities? Whose on-base percentage is higher?

These are just a couple of the questions that are important for your third and fourth hitters to answer. While they are both capable hitters, it will be interesting if they flip-flop batting third and fourth throughout the season.

From here on, the lineup is not as set in stone. The remainder of the lineup consists of Dylan Carlson, Harrison Bader, Paul DeJong, Lars Nootbaar, and Andrew Knizner. With Molina out of the rotation, the catch position is batting ninth. That is likely to not stick once Molina returns to the lineup.

Heading into the Cardinals’ first exhibition game of the season, the five through eight spots are the ones to look at. These are the most volatile hitting positions in baseball, and this Cardinals lineup is likely to go through many renditions and tune-ups before actual opening day on March 31.