{"id":320602,"date":"2025-11-29T14:07:08","date_gmt":"2025-11-29T14:07:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/320602\/"},"modified":"2025-11-29T14:07:08","modified_gmt":"2025-11-29T14:07:08","slug":"bleacher-report-predicts-a-very-odd-lineup-for-cardinals-in-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/320602\/","title":{"rendered":"Bleacher Report predicts a very odd lineup for Cardinals in 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

The St. Louis Cardinals <\/a>start a new era of baseball with Chaim Bloom as the new President of Baseball Operations. However, according to Joel Reuter of\u00a0Bleacher Report<\/a>, the Cardinals\u2019 projected Opening Day lineup appears to be more of the same.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Bleacher Report\u2019s projected Cardinals Opening Day lineup is almost verbatim from 2025<\/p>\n

The projected lineup for the 2026 lineup, from Reuter, is as follows: 2B Brendan Donovan, C Iv\u00e1n Herrera, LF Alec Burleson, 1B Willson Contreras, DH Nolan Gorman, 3B Nolan Arenado, RF Lars Nootbaar, SS Masyn Winn, CF Victor Scott II.<\/p>\n

From Reuter: \u201cFitting all the pieces together becomes easier if Iv\u00e1n Herrera can make a successful return to catching after he was limited to DH duties in 2025 while nursing knee and hamstring issues. This lineup could look a lot different if they decide to blow up the roster, but for now, it’s hard to know exactly what direction this club is going.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reuter predicts that the Cardinals will keep All-Star Brendan Donovan. Back on November 13th, the Kansas City Royals and the Cleveland Guardians\u00a0expressed interest in Donovan<\/a>. Both of those teams would fit Donovan, as the Royals\u2019 outfield batters posted a 73 wRC+, last in MLB, and the Guardians\u00a0ranked 29th in OBP last year<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The next notable projection in the lineup from Reuter is the Cardinals\u2019 keeping Arenado for 2026. This one is arguably the most eye-opening, since Arenado appears on his way out of St. Louis for next season.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It seems inevitable that the Cardinals will either trade or release Nolan Arenado before the start of the ’26 season; if so, Willson Contreras will be the last St. Louis player with a contract for 2027. Unless he’s traded.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) November 25, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n

With the Cardinals heading toward a full-on rebuild, holding onto Arenado doesn’t make much sense. In fact, the veteran third baseman admitted at the end of the regular season\u00a0that it might be time for a chance<\/a>.<\/p>\n

One notable omission from this projected lineup is top prospect JJ Wetherholt. According to MLB\u2019s Jonathan Mayo, Wetherholt\u2019s chances of making the Cardinals\u2019 Opening Day roster\u00a0appear high<\/a>, but the only question will be where on the infield Wetherholt would play. That answer could potentially come about during the Winter Meetings.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Reuter\u2019s Opening Day lineup for the St. Louis Cardinals looks to be the same as last season’s, but with Chaim Bloom in charge, I have a hard time believing we will see a repeat of 2025\u2019s lineup.\u00a0<\/p>\n