Projecting the St. Louis Cardinals' Opening Day lineup after Nolan Arenado trade

With the Nolan Arenado trade today, the St. Louis Cardinals lineup will look different. Add in the Willson Contreras trade from earlier this offseason, and things look drastically different. 

Here is what the Cardinals lineup looked like in 2025...

LF Lars Nootbaar
1B Willson Contreras
2B Brendan Donovan
3B Nolan Arenado
DH Alec Burleson
C Ivan Herrera
RF Jordan Walker
CF Victor Scott II
SS Masyn Winn

It’s impossible to know today what the 2026 Opening Day lineup will be, but we can make a guess. 

There will have to be some conjecture when trying to put together this list. First, Donovan is still on this team, and as long as he is, he is an everyday player. (That said, this lineup could be rewritten before this even gets posted.)

Another moving piece is Ivan Herrera. Will he catch, be in the OF, or be the everyday DH? Who plays second, who plays third, and who is in left field? Will Jordan Walker be locked in at right field?

Let’s pencil in what we know. Masyn Winn is the shortstop. That is pretty much it. 

We think Burleson will be the first baseman, Scott should be the center fielder, and as of now, Walker will be in right. 

Second base could be Gorman, Saggese, or JJ Wetherholt. Or Donovan. If Donovan is still here, considering Nootbaar is coming off surgery, let’s make Donovan the left fielder. We can assume that both a Saggese and JJ will be on the team. One will be at second and one at third.

If Donovan is still here, that blocks LF, and if last year is a guide, the team would rather not have Herrera catching, so that leaves Pages behind the plate and Herrera as the DH.

Sometimes it’s hard to understand how the manager comes up with lineups. And knowing there are many ways to do this, using the assumptions from above, this is just one way. The only guarantee I can make is that after more changes are made, this is not what we will see on Opening Day. 

Let's take a stab at what the lineup may look like on Opening Day

Projected St. Louis Cardinals Lineup for 2026 

1, CF Victor Scott
2. DH Ivan Herrera
3. LF Brendan Donovan
4. 1B Alec Burleson
5. RF Jordan Walker
6. 3B JJ Wetherholt
7. 2B Thomas Saggese
8. C Pedro Pages
9. SS Masyn Winn

Just looking at this lineup, the Cardinals have a lot of work to do. Is Gorman a piece that fits? If so, does Saggese make the team? Where will we find Herrera? What happens if Donovan gets traded, or if Walker is optioned? Who is the right-handed power bat that Bloom has hinted at? 

With so many question marks, we probably won't know the real lineup until the last day of spring training.