5 small moves the Cardinals made that are leading to their turnaround in 2025

#3 - Shaking up the starting lineup

To start the year, manager Oliver Marmol made multiple shifts to their lineup compared to last year, which helped unlock their offense.

First, he inserted Nootbaar into the leadoff spot, where he is thriving and getting on base at an incredible clip while slugging a bit as well. Second, he went with a platoon duo of Alec Burleson and Luken Baker at DH rather than running out Nolan Gorman to begin the year. Third, he had speedsters Victor Scott II and Masyn Winn round out the order to help put pressure on opposing pitchers before the top of the lineup came back around again. And fourth, he put Brendan Donovan in the three hole, where he has been an RBI machine.

Well, as any good manager does, Marmol let things play out, but decided to shake things up as needed. After Willson Contreras and Masyn Winn both started the year ice cold, he actually moved Contreras to the five-hole and Winn to the two-hole, where both hitters have been on a heater ever since.

I imagine we'll see Marmol tweak things throughout the year as he needs to when things get stale. For example, Nolan Arenado has been productive this year, but it does feel odd that he is batting cleanup right now while arguably the Cardinals' two best hitters, Contreras and Herrera, are batting fifth and sixth. I bet both of those guys move up in the order soon.

Marmol was slow to move players around in the lineup last year, sticking with both Goldschmidt and Arenado in the middle of the order rather than moving them down when they were struggling big time. Unfortunately, almost everyone was struggling, so there were no clear choices to replace them with. This year, the Cardinals have so many options, so when someone is cold, a different bat can slot into their spot.

Marmol's intentionality with how the lineup flows matters as well. He's been particular with who hits in the eight and nine spots, knowing those guys can help spark the top of the lineup as things turn over.