Way-too-early Cardinals Opening Day roster projection

Projected lineups

vs. RHP

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

Against right-handed pitching, expect the Cardinals to deploy the full force of their left-handed bats. Donovan, Nootbaar, Gorman, and Burleson help balance the Cardinals' right-handed bats well, and with how much variance is in this lineup, it is hard to predict who will slot in where.

My guess is the Cardinals let Winn lead off again at least to start this year, and the duo of Contreras and Arenado seem like a lock to bat third and fourth to begin the season. Even off of a down year, I expect Arenado to have the first crack at batting cleanup, and he'll likely get a long runway there unless he struggles badly again.

See how much deeper this lineup is without Pages and Siani in it? I would love for the Cardinals to learn in this direction, as I actually believe it helps take pressure off the young bats as a whole if the entire lineup is littered with guys who could hit this year if things go right.

vs. LHP

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

Things get interesting when you look at the lineup against left-handed pitching. The Cardinals struggled big time against southpaws in 2024, so I expect Oliver Marmol to look to counteract that with platoons in 2025.

Saggese gets the starting nod against lefties here, with Alec Burleson falling to the bench after a terrible showing against lefties in 2024. There is some lineup shuffling as well, with Nootbaar moving up to the two-hole while Donovan slides all the way down to bat ninth. Donovan can serve as the "second lead-off" hitter in that role, especially since he's been below league average against lefties in his career. Then when a right-hander comes into the game, he can be an on-base machine for the top of the lineup that follows. Nootbaar has actually been really solid against left-handed pitchers in his career.

Gorman likely begins the year starting against left-handed pitching, but if he struggles, they could bench him in those spots in favor of a different option. I could see this being a spot where the Cardinals DH Herrera and start Pages.