This is how the St. Louis Cardinals can find playing time for all of their young bats

The Cardinals' important bats get plenty of opportunities each week

Below is the chart that Kiley posted last week, which gives a really good picture of what playing time disbursement could look like.

For all the talk about which #STLCards OF is on the "outside looking in," I believe there's plenty of playing time to go around if the team breaks camp w/ O'Neill, Carlson, Walker & Noot.

Tried to mock up a week of lineups. I think Oli would be open to something like this. pic.twitter.com/Hg2xTqnXOK
— Brandon Kiley (@BKSportsTalk) March 9, 2023

Here are the start breakdowns by player based off Kiley's mock week outlook.

6 starts - Nolan Arenado

5 starts - Paul Goldschmidt, Willson Contreras, Jordan Walker, Tyler O'Neill, Nolan Gorman and Tommy Edman

4 starts - Brendan Donovan, Lars Nootbaar, and Dylan Carlson

3 starts - Juan Yepez

1 start - Backup catcher and Paul DeJong

Starts to make a lot of sense right? Seeing this on paper, it may not be the ideal scenario for each of the bats, but it does spread out playing time well. I DM'd with Kiley a bit on this and he pointed out that Gorman would receive a fifth start during the week that was missing form this chart.

In all honesty, the Cardinals could even move up Donovan into the 5 start category and take away DeJong's start. Yepez, Nootbaar, or Gorman could gain a start if Contreras gets two off days, rather than starting at DH once a week. This does not even include the potential for pitch-hit opportunities or late-game substitutions based off of matchups.

When it comes to starts for the position players each week, there are ways to keep guys in the lineup on a consistent basis. But for those of you concerned that this is not enough at-bats for their top players, I'm guessing this isn't their end goal either.

When injuries happen, this rotation will shrik even more. Say O'Neill goes down for a month, that's 5 starts a week that are now available to other guys. One injury to this group opens up playing time in a major way for the rest.

And as the season progresses, the team will be able to see which players rise to the top. If Carlson or one of the outfielders struggles, they'll be faded more in favor of the rest. If Yepez or Gorman are not hitting, their at-bats will shrink too. This construction is meant to continue this Spring Training competition into the season, and allow the best players to come out on top.

Do you think this is a fair way to balance the Cardinals playing time out to begin the season? Let us know in the comments below.

The Cardinals' important bats get plenty of opportunities each week

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