JUPITER, Fla. - Catcher Yadier Molina was in an unfamiliar spot in the batting order Saturday, batting second for the Cardinals road game against the Marlins.
Molina, who has batted second one time in his career, will likely not see any time there during the season. Manager Mike Matheny said Molina was put higher in the order so he can get his at-bats in and get out of the game earlier.
“The priority right now is getting guy’s their at-bats,” Matheny said. “If you put him down in the order, you could potentially give him two more innings defensively and we’re trying to be real cautious. It just worked out right today to get him out there, and he did have a lot of stolen bases last year.”
Matheny joked that Molina, “has shown good speed this spring,” when first asked why his catcher had been moved up in the lineup.
The Cardinals lineup for Saturday’s game against the Marlins:
Erik Komatsu, LF
Yadier Molina, C
Lance Berkman, DH
David Freese, 3B
Matt Adams, 1B
Skip Schumaker, RF
Tyler Greene, 2B
Adron Chambers, CF
Alex Cora, SS
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Kyle Lohse will make his second spring start on the mound. He’s the first starter to make a second start. Scheduled to follow him in relief are Brandon Dickson, Jason Motte, Lance Lynn, Marc Rzepczynski and Adam Ottavino.
