Cardinals first spring training lineup cements Oli Marmol's ideal infield alignment

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After a long offseason that centered on trading away costly veterans and the Cardinals' lone 2025 All-Star, the club is set to take the field today against the Washington Nationals. While the club's entire starting nine isn't set to play today, Marmol is tipping his hand as to what he'd like the infield to look like this year.

The Cardinals' first lineup of spring training features an infield alignment of 2025 Silver Slugger Alec Burleson at first base, top prospect JJ Wetherholt at second base, 2025 Gold Glover Masyn Winn at shortstop, and Nolan Gorman at third base.

Oli Marmol continues to show Cardinals fans what he wants the infield to look like in 2026

The exact lineup the Cardinals are going with today is as follows:

1. SS Masyn Winn
2. 1B Alec Burleson
3. 3B Nolan Gorman
4. C Pedro Pages
5. 2B JJ Wetherholt
6. LF Jose Fermin
7. CF Nathan Church
8. RF Joshua Baez
9. DH Blaze Jordan.

For much of the offseason, there was speculation as to how exactly the Cardinals would deploy their infield group this year. Once Willson Contreras was traded, Alec Burleson became the clear candidate to man first base, although there is still a chance Ivan Herrera gets reps there if the catching gig doesn't work out. And once both Nolan Arenado and Brendan Donovan were traded, it was only a matter of where JJ Wetherholt would start, not if he would. Since camp has begun, Wetherholt has been manning second base, and it appears the Cardinals are ready to cement him and Winn as their middle infield of the future.

Marmol is already throwing Wetherholt's name into the mix for the leadoff spot, but today he went with Winn to get the shot there. Winn is certainly a strong candidate for that spot on Opening Day, but part of the reason he is batting at the top of the lineup today is to get him as many at-bats before they pull him from the game. My guess is that Wetherholt will see more action today than Winn.

Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch relayed today that Marmol is likely to alternate his "starting group" of infielders and outfielders for at least the first week of games, so fans can expect to see Jordan Walker and Victor Scott II in tomorrow's lineup. But again, even that sentiment reiterates that Marmol expects this infield alignment to be their starting group come Opening Day.

The outfield group the Cardinals are running today is certainly one to watch. Jose Fermin will be fighting for an Opening Day roster spot, competing with Thomas Saggese, who is also picking up an outfield glove this camp. New signing Ramon Urias is expected to snag one of those bench spots as their new right-handed bat they've been looking for this offseason. Nathan Church will be looking to showcase why he deserves to be on the roster as well.

Joshua Baez, who many believe was the top breakout prospect in all of baseball in 2025, is unlikely to push for an Opening Day spot but can leave a strong impression on the coaching staff this spring as he looks to make an MLB debut later this year. Blaze Jordan, whom the Cardinals acquired in the Steven Matz trade at the deadline, had a lot of pedigree going into the 2020 MLB Draft and is hoping to make his own MLB debut this year.