Projecting The St. Louis Cardinal Lineup

December 23rd, 2011

With Albert Pujols gone, Rafael Furcal back in the fold, and Carlos Beltran now wearing Cardinal red, let’s take a stab at what the St. Louis Cardinal lineup might look like come Opening Day.

1. Rafael Furcal, SS
2. Carlos Beltran, RF
3. Matt Holliday, LF
4. Lance Berkman, 1B
5. David Freese, 3B
6. Yadier Molina, C
7. Jon Jay, CF
8. Daniel Descalso, 2B

I know it’s probably not going to happen, but I love Beltran in the two-hole in this lineup. The other option in the two-hole would he Jay, but not sure what he is going to do in 2012. He could be a breakout candidate or just turn into a fourth outfielder type. Beltran in the two-spot gives the Cadinals a 1-through-5 that could rival any team in baseball.

The key to this lineup and maintaining consistency throughout the year will be Freese. Everyone remembers Freese for his absurd postseason, but everyone forgets this guy has never played 100 games in a season in his career. There’s always something going on with him during the regular season.

Not having Freese in the lineup was fine and dandy with Pujols around carrying the load, but now the Cardinals need everyone to step up — Freese especially. The Cardinals need Freese to play in 140 games-plus in 2012.

Overall, the Cardinals are going to field a pretty high-risk, high-reward offense in 2012. Furcal, Berkman, Beltran, and Freese are all injury risks. But if those guys can stay healthy and continue to put up solid numbers, the Cardinals will be once again fighting for the National League Central crown.

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By The Baseball Index

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3 Responses to “Projecting The St. Louis Cardinal Lineup”

  1. Vaporshacx says:
    December 23, 2011 at 7:27 pm

    Wonder how many games Raffy spends on the DL..

  2. The Baseball Index says:
    December 25, 2011 at 10:50 am

    I would say the over/under is going to be set at 25

  3. Tom says:
    December 30, 2011 at 12:09 pm

    I think the line-up is even better with Craig in RF and Beltran in CF. Not defensively of course. Again, Craig is another guy coming off an injury. I could not agree more with you regarding Beltran in the 2 spot. I always thought the Mets should have put him there like the Astros did in 04.

    As far as games spent on the DL. I think if we can get 140 games out of Furcal, Beltran, Freese, Berkman and Holliday we’d be in good shape. Chances are slim that they all play 140 though.

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