Just over a week until the season is set to begin, the Cardinals have suffered a setback with their outfield. Center fielder Harrison Bader has apparently been batting forearm soreness throughout camp and Wednesday, manager Mike Shildt told reporters he will miss Opening Day and a minimum of four weeks (via stltoday.com).
The move puts the Cardinals in a bit of a defensive predicament heading toward the beginning of a season in which they'll be the favorites to win the NL Central. Bader is a very good defender in center. Without him, they appear set to open the season with Dylan Carlson in center. The other option there would be Lane Thomas.
So how will St. Louis line up to start the season? Let's take a look.
If Carlson starts in center
Tyler O'Neill seems safe in left field, regardless, so we'll just assume that's where he is moving forward.
With Carlson in center, right field is open.
Justin Williams swings left-handed and has hit the ball hard this spring. He only has seven career MLB plate appearances and is a career .271/.333/.423 hitter in 151 Triple-A games.
If the Cardinals want to platoon with him, Austin Dean is an option. He's hit .321 with a .500 slugging in the spring and is a righty. In 318 career MLB plate appearances, he's a .224/.274/.390 (77 OPS+) hitter.
There's always the option to kick versatile second baseman Tommy Edman out to right with Matt Carpenter playing second base, though it seems like Carpenter is not equipped for everyday duty at this point in his career.
If Thomas starts in center
This would be the better option for the Cardinals, defensively. Thomas is a capable center fielder while Carlson is better suited for right -- not to mention that once Bader is healthy, Carlson heads back to right and the Cardinals might not want to move their prized prospect around the outfield so much.
That also leaves the rest of the roster where it was expected to be. It's simply a plug and play with Thomas.
Thomas is a .216 hitter in 74 career MLB at-bats and hasn't impressed Cardinals brass in the spring.
For now, it seems like the Cardinals are looking at Carlson swinging over to center field with a Williams/Dean platoon in right field, but lots of things can change in a week.
