The St. Louis Cardinals recently shuffled their batting order during their series with the Detroit Tigers, most notably moving star third baseman Nolan Arenado out of the clean-up spot to sixth in the lineup.
The change appeared to pay off immediately, as the Cardinals secured an 11-4 victory in the first game with the new order.
Arenado, 34, has struggled offensively in recent weeks, posting a .215 batting average and .583 OPS over the past month.
According to Katie Woo of The Athletic, Arenado took the initiative and approached manager Oli Marmol about a possible move down in the lineup.
Both agreed the adjustment could benefit the team given his current performance.
When asked about the change, Arenado was candid. The eight-time All-Star acknowledged that his teammates batting behind him had been performing better, and that it made sense to give them the opportunity to hit higher in the order.
“The guys are [and] were hitting behind me, and they should move up,” he said. “There’s really nothing more to it than that.”
With Arenado now in the sixth spot, Wilson Contreras slides into the clean-up role, while the top of the order remains unchanged with Lars Nootbaar, Masyn Winn, and Brendan Donovan leading off.
Ivan Herrera was used as the designated hitter in Monday’s game, but Alec Burleson or Nolan Gorman could rotate into that role going forward.
This lineup tweak gives the Cardinals a better chance to capitalize on their hottest bats during a tight NL Central race — they currently trail the division-leading Cubs by just one game.
While Arenado may climb back up the order later, he’ll need to rediscover his rhythm at the plate. So far in 2024, he’s hitting .241 with a .316 OBP, four home runs, and 19 RBIs over 170 at-bats.
