Final St. Louis Cardinals Opening Day roster prediction

Lineups

vs RHP

1. CF Lars Nootbaar
2. 1B Willson Contreras
3. LF Brendan Donovan
4. 3B Nolan Arenado
5. DH Alec Burleson
6. C Ivan Herrera
7. 2B Nolan Gorman
8. RF Jordan Walker
9. SS Masyn Winn

The Cardinals seem to favor Lars Nootbaar as their lead-off option if it is not Masyn Winn. While Winn could still lead off for the, I truly believe what is best for this team is having Winn bat lower in the order and allowing either Nootbaar or Donovan to lead off for them.

I personally would have Donovan lead off and Nootbaar bat third, but the Cardinals have actually run lineups in spring that has Nootbaar leading off and Donovan batting third. Having Contreras in the second spot in the order makes a ton of sense in my eyes, as it gives him more at-bats and allows them to do the right-handed and left-handed alternating throughout the lineup.

Putting Nootbaar in center field does allow them to get Burleson into the lineup, and it lengthens their lineup in a major way.

vs LHP

1. CF Lars Nootbaar
2. C Willson Contreras
3. 3B Nolan Areando
4. DH Luken Baker
5. C Ivan Herrera
6. LF Brendan Donovan
7. RF Jordan Walker
8. 2B Nolan Gorman
9. SS Masyn Winn

Nootbaar actually has strong numbers against left-handed pitching, so it makes sense to have him lead off in these situations. It also allows the club to have a high-OBP and OPS guy in Contreras bat second, Arenado and his high-AVG profile bat third, and a big bat like Baker bat clean up for them.

The Cardinals struggled big time against left-handed pitching in 2024, so they need to do whatever it takes to put their best foot forward against southpaws in 2025.

I could see the Cardinals looking to work Pages into these lineups, especially with Herrera having reverse splits at the plate.