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The St. Louis Cardinals' Opening Day lineup isn't very interesting in terms of its composition—the starters are exactly who you thought they would be in the wake of David Freese's lingering back injury. But the batting order itself might interest you: minor league OBP king Matt Carpenter will bat second behind Jon Jay, with Carlos Beltran dropping to the fifth spot after spending most of last year batting second or fourth.
Mike Matheny suggested to Jenifer Langosch that the move is more fallout from the David Freese injury—Beltran is now in charge of protecting Allen Craig in the cleanup spot, or whatever it is the No. 5 hitter is supposed to do for the No. 4 hitter. Everything else is unlikely to surprise you: Jay's hitting leadoff, Yadier Molina's batting behind Beltran, and Daniel Descalso and Pete Kozma are sneaked in in front of Adam Wainwright.
I'm a Pitchers Hit Eighth guy, personally, but I'm willing to accept this lineup until age makes Matheny as eccentric as it did Tony La Russa. For more coverage of the St. Louis Cardinals' Opening Day (and first series), stay tuned to this storystream. Here's a look at the full lineup:
| NAME | POS | |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Jon Jay | CF |
| 2. | Matt Carpenter | 3B |
| 3. | Matt Holliday | LF |
| 4. | Allen Craig | 1B |
| 5. | Carlos Beltran | RF |
| 6. | Yadier Molina | C |
| 7. | Daniel Descalso | 2B |
| 8. | Pete Kozma | SS |
| 9. | Adam Wainwright | P |