SAN DIEGO聽鈥 The return of Lars Nootbaar from the injured list gives the Cardinals their full complement of outfielders and left-handed hitters for the first time in several weeks, and with it comes more of the playing time conundrums than ever.
The roster remains a tangram with more pieces in need of evaluation for upcoming years than at-bats to allow for that evaluation.
Fresh off his rehab assignment and a sliding catch in right field during Harry Potter Night at Class AA Springfield 鈥 complete with a Gryffindor scarf printed on his jersey 鈥 Nootbaar rejoined the Cardinals on Saturday in San Diego. He started in right field, and the lineup adjusted around him. Since Nootbaar went on the 10-day injured list on July 12, the Cardinals have freed up designated hitter at times by playing Ivan Herrera in left field, but with Nootbaar back that put Herrera at DH and Jordan Walker on the bench.
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Other permutations will have Nootbaar in left field and Walker in right, but then No. 3 hitter Alec Burleson is either at first, DH, or yielding at-bats to another player on the team鈥檚 鈥渞unway.鈥
鈥淲e鈥檒l have to rotate them through and get everybody at-bats and find time for all of them,鈥 manager Oliver Marmol said Saturday evening at Petco Park. 鈥淚t will be a combination of giving guys days off during this stretch. You can do that. We鈥檒l rotate them appropriately.鈥
Since the Cardinals affirmed their focus on the future this season with trade deadline moves that subtracted from the present, a question lingered: How can they get enough playing time for overlapping players to adequately evaluate who鈥檚 advancing and what鈥檚 needed for next year鈥檚 lineup? Marmol said there was a reason the club did not trade any of its hitters at the deadline, and he referred to the current group as the coming 鈥渃ore.鈥
The core riddle is who plays where because with 50 games remaining as of Saturday evening there are limited at-bats, and there鈥檚 as much overlaps as ever.
Nolan Gorman starting at third base in place of Nolan Arenado, who went on the IL on Friday, is creating at-bats for him. Herrera relocating from DH to left field every so often, frees up the DH to rest Willson Contreras or start Burleson. But with the current roster, there鈥檚 no room for Nootbaar, Burleson, Victor Scott II, Herrera, and Walker to all start. Production will ultimately make the decision, but the Cardinals have set forth the coming months to allow for patience and playing time before making the call on who has the most upside.
Marmol was asked what will guide his hand with the lineups to assure playing time for the evaluation the team keeps advertising and if production will play a part.
鈥淚鈥檓 going to try to get them at-bats,鈥 he said.
Mathews has 9K outing
Lefty Quinn Mathews, the Cardinals鈥 top pitching prospect entering the season, set a season high with nine strikeouts in his victory for Class AAA Memphis against Norfolk on Friday.
Mathews pitched 6 2/3 innings for the win and allowed two runs on five hits and walk. A year ago, in his first full season of pro baseball, Mathews scaled four levels and became the first Cardinals鈥 minor-leaguer in more than 20 years to strike out 200 batters. He won Baseball America鈥檚 pitcher of the year award for all of the minor leagues, and he gave a brief glimpse of his ability during big-league spring training.
His encore season, all of which has been at Triple-A Memphis with the exception of two rehab appearances, has been inconsistent. Within the opening weeks of the season, Mathews went on the injured list for a month and had to regain his groove after proving his health.
In 14 starts for Memphis, Mathews has a 4.09 ERA with 1.73 walks-plus-hits-per-inning (WHIP). He has struck out 63 batters in 55 innings.
Post-deadline debuts
Welcomed to the field by the familiar blast of AC/DC鈥檚 鈥淗ell鈥檚 Bells,鈥 Ryan Helsley made his Mets debut Friday night in Queens. Citi Field had his entry all cued up. Helsley pitched a scoreless inning with two hits allowed and three strikeouts before the Mets lost in extra innings. 鈥 Jesus Baez, the infielder the Cardinals received from the Mets as part of the return for Helsley, started at shortstop for High-A Peoria on Friday and went 0 for 4 in his first game with the Cardinals鈥 organization. 鈥 Reporting to the Rangers less than 24 hours after being traded, right-hander Phil Maton pitched his first inning for Texas on Friday and struck out a batter in a scoreless eighth at Seattle. 鈥 Steven Matz had his first assignment for the Red Sox on Saturday and pitched scoreless sixth inning for his eighth hold of the season in a win against Houston. Matz walked one and struck out one.
