How the St. Louis Cardinals' lineup should look if they want to make a playoff push

Lineup vs. left-handed pitching

1. SS Masyn Winn
2. LF Tommy Pham
3. C Willson Contreras
4. 1B Paul Goldschmidt
5. 3B Nolan Arenado
6. 2B Brendan Donovan
7. DH Ivan Herrera
8. RF Lars Nootbaar
9. CF Michael Siani

Bench: OF Alec Burleson, C Pedro Pages, DH Matt Carpenter, SS Brandon Crawford

I know what you're probably thinking - how on earth is Alec Burleson not in the lineup? Well, something that I just never hear people talk about is how Burleson has been the worst Cardinal hitter against left-handed pitching this year, and it's a pretty large sample size.

In 109 plate appearances (fifth most on the team) entering Wednesday's contest against the Rangers, Burleson ranks last among all Cardinal hitters with a 45 wRC+ against southpaws. The only player on the roster who is anywhere close to as bad as Burleson has been is Michael Siani, who at least plays elite defense in center field. If you're more of a traditional stats person, he is slashing .196/.224/.294 against lefties.

Before I put this into writing, I decided to look deeper and see if the numbers are just skewed by a bad stretch, since Burleson has been incredible since the summer began. Alas, that did not help things either. In July, he has a 37 wRC+ vs. LHP. In June, it was a 36 wRC+. In May, it was a 21 wRC+. The only "great" stretch he had this year was in the 15 plate appearances he had in March/April where that wRC+ was 127.

Like Pham off the bench against left-handed pitching, Burleson could provide the same spark in big spots with a righty on the mound. With how this lineup is constructed, Burleson could pinch-hit for Pham, Herrera, Siani, and then Marmol can rearrange the defense as needed based on who he comes in for.

Now, for his career, Burleson is a notoriously bad pinch hitter, hitting just .069 in 35 plate appearances. He's only had six pinch-hit opportunities in 2024 though, producing one hit, so I do wonder now that he is playing every day if he'll be in more of a groove in pinch-hit spots moving forward.

Contreras (170 wRC+), Goldschmidt (135 wRC+), and Pham (161 wRC+) have been elite against left-handed pitching this year, creating a dynamic middle of their lineup vs. southpaws. Winn, Arenado, and Herrera act as solid complimentary pieces in this lineup, creating a much different look for opposing pitchers moving forward. Mediocre left-handed pitching has taken advantage of the Cardinals' lineup far too often in 2024, and while I don't see them magically being a top unit against lefties going forward, I don't see it being as glaring of a weakness the rest of the way.

*If Michael Siani is out, move Nootbaar to CF, Donovan to LF, Pham to RF, and either Thomas Saggese or Jose Fermin to 2B.