Cardinals release first lineup of the spring as they take on the Marlins

The St. Louis Cardinals open the Grapefruit League season with today's game against the Miami Marlins. Neither team will have to travel, as they share the antiquated Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium for one final year before the facility undergoes massive upgrades.

In the first of 31 (including split squad) exhibition games, the lineup could be a glimpse at what manager Oliver Marmol expects for his Opening Day roster with Erick Fedde on the hill as they prepare for the regular season The Cardinals host the Minnesota Twins to begin the 2025 campaign on March 27.

Franchise cornerstone Masyn Winn leads off, as he did in the majority of his starts last year. Nolan Arenado's presence on the roster created a logjam across different positions, but he slots in at the cleanup spot and his customary position at the hot corner. Interestingly, Brendan Donovan will man the keystone while Nolan Gorman looks to show increased plate discipline as the designated hitter. With Donovan staying in the infield, Marmol appears to be going defense-first behind the pitcher, with Michael Siani in center and Lars Nootbaar, who is still expected to see reps in center, in left field. Ivan Herrera grabs the exhibition season's first start behind the dish as he enters a competition with Pedro Pages.

The Cardinals will send last year's midseason acquisition Erick Fedde to the mound to open the exhibition season, who is expected to throw the first two innings. Fedde was a player who seemed likely to be victim of the organizational reset (or now explained as a transition) and be traded, but it turns out the Cardinals never received any interest from around the league. The next two innings are scheduled to be covered by Matthew Liberatore. Despite spending all but six of his 60 appearances last season as a reliever, the team announced that Liberatore, a former top starting pitching prospsect, will have the opportunity to compete for the fifth spot in the rotation. The Marlins will start 25-year-old Valente Bellozo, who put up decent but unspectacular numbers in his rookie season last year.

As is typical during early spring training games, regular season players tend to only receive one or two at-bats and a few innings on defense before giving way to the reserves. These players may be a mix of prospects looking to get experience against major league pitching or non-roster invitees competing for a spot with the big league club. On the mound, pitchers will slowly be stretched out and increase their pitch counts each start. It is also not uncommon to see starters get extended work in the bullpen after they hit their allotted inning count for the day. The "also eligible" list on the position player side features some new names, as fans may get their first look at top prospects JJ Wetherholt and Jimmy Crooks later in the game. The available arms are mostly holdovers from last season, plus offseason addition Bailey Horn, and Matt Svanson, who was added to the 40-man roster to protect him from a Rule 5 draft selection.

While this first game can only be heard via KMOX, announced by John Rooney, Ricky Horton, and Mike Claiborne, fans will get to actually see the Cardinals in action on Sunday when they host the Astros for a 12:05pm first pitch. This will also be the fans' first opportunity to try FanDuel Sports Network's direct-to-consumer streaming platform.