Cardinals star selflessly asks to be moved down in batting order to optimize offense

With Nolan Arenado struggling at the plate lately, the star approached St. Louis Cardinals manager Oli Marmol about being put lower in the lineup to give the guys who are hitting better more at-bats.

That's really selfless behavior for a player who is an MVP-caliber athlete.

Nolan Arenado requested to be moved down in the Cardinals lineup, a selfless act that shows true leadership from the future Hall of Famer

Moving Arenado to the sixth position in the line-up moves up Willson Contreras and Ivan Herrera, both of whom have been on-fire as of late. Contreras is hitting .249/.332/.405 with an OPS of .736. He has nine doubles, six home runs, 23 runs, and 26 RBI. He has two stolen bases.

Herrera recently can back from a knee injury and has returned to form in the line-up. He is hitting .429/.491/.857 with an OPS of 1.348. He's hit six doubles, five home runs, 12 runs and 18 RBI. It is so great to see Herrera hitting. Now if he can stay healthy, this line-up can be a real threat.

Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat asked Arenado about the change in the lineup. He noted it was nothing more than trying to help his teammates. "Guys are playing well in front of me, or those who were hitting behind me, and they should move up in front of me. It was nothing more than that." He stressed that this was about performance and not an attempt to pressure himself to improve.

Arenado will use this opportunity to not only help his team. He will use this as a way to improve himself. That's just how Arenado plays. He is constantly looking to improve himself. This just follows suit for him.

He does need a bounce-back. In Kansas City, he was 0-for-4 on Friday, 0-for-3 on Saturday, and improved to 2-for-5 on Sunday. These aren't significant numbers for him. He could use a change in line-up scenery. Hopefully, this move will help him and the team.