How the Cardinals can optimize their lineup, get back to scoring a ton of runs

The St. Louis Cardinals offense has had one of the weirdest starts to the season.

The team has had incredible performances from Paul Goldschmidt, Nolan Arenado, Nolan Gorman, Lars Nootbaar, and Alec Burleson, while bats like Jordan Walker, Brendan Donovan, and Tyler O'Neill have been very productive as well. The club ranks 7th in OPS, 5th in OBP, and 9th in SLG. And yet, they somehow rank 22nd in runs scored to this point.

The Cardinals' struggles with runners in scoring position are well documented at this point. It feels like multiple times a game they have easy scoring chances, and not only miss out on an opportunity to blow the game open but often come up empty.

Eventually, things will turn around for this club. They are far too talented not to score more runs than they are right now, and once they do, they'll be winning games consistently. It is frustrating though, and I do think there are some simple changes they can make right now to improve their run-scoring ability.

Move Lars Nootbaar and Nolan Gorman up in the lineup against right-handed pitching

Against right-handed pitching, it's time to put your best-performing hitters in the top five spots in the lineup to get them the most amount of plate appearances possible.

Here is how I would structure their lineup against right-handed pitching

1. 2B Brendan Donovan
2. CF Lars Nootbaar
3. 1B Paul Goldschmidt
4. 3B Nolan Arenado
5. DH Nolan Gorman
6. LF Alec Burleson
7. C Willson Contreras
8. RF Jordan Walker
9. SS Tommy Edman

Willson Contreras is beginning to heat up over the last few games, but right now, the Cardinals have six guys who are clearly hitting better than him.

Donovan has cooled off a bit but is still the guy I would lead off for this team. I do think there is a world where Nootbaar leads up and Burleson bats second, but I would give Donovan more time at the top of the lineup.

Moving Nootbaar into the two spot and Gorman into the five-hole gives the Cardinals four straight hitters who get on base at a high clip and slug with the best of them. That's a recipe for runs on the board.

Following those guys? Alec Burleson, who has a .814 OPS this season, Contreras, who is still a big bat, and then Jordan Walker, who can do damage at any moment.

Get creative at the top of the order against left-handed pitching

The Cardinals' lineup, in general, mashes left-handed pitching, so it's not difficult to create a great lineup here. But I do think there is a wise way to do this that sets itself up damage late in the game if a right-hander comes into the game in relief.

1. SS Tommy Edman
2. CF Dylan Carlson
3. 1B Paul Goldschmidt
4. 3B Nolan Arenado
5. DH Tyler O'Neill
6. LF Lars Nootbaar
7. C Willson Contreras
8. RF Jordan Walker
9. 2B Brendan Donovan

This is pretty similar to what the Cardinals have done with their lineup against lefties this year but leaves clear room for pinch-hit opportunities in bit spots against right-handed pitching.

Batting Edman leadoff and Donovan ninth flip flops the "table setters" for this team, capitalizing on Edman's great splits against right-handed pitching and having a great on-base guy in Donovan batting before the lineup turns over again.

Dylan Carlson has been good against left-handed pitching so far this year, so getting him as many at-bats against the left-handed starter as possible is wise. If he faces a right-hander later in the game and they need runs, Alec Burleson can swap in nicely.

Same argument for O'Neill in the fifth spot at DH. Gorman becomes the perfect pinch hitter in that spot should they need to turn to him.

What do you think of these lineups? Would you do anything differently? Let us know in the comments below!