By Chris Brown / STL Baseball Today | @cbrown_STLBBT | Mar. 5, 2016, 10:15 am CT
Matt Holliday works at first base earlier this spring. Photo via Jenifer Langosch / MLB.com / Twitter
Updated at 11:41 am CT with Holliday scratched from lineup:
Slated to make his professional debut at first base for the Cardinals in the team’s third Spring Training game on Saturday, Matt Holliday was scratched from the lineup with back tightness.
Manager Mike Matheny made the announcement around noon, telling reporters, including KMOV’s J.J. Bailey, that the veteran felt tightness in his lower back and the team wanted to let him rest.
Earlier in the day Matheny told reporters that Holliday would need to see game action for the team to decide if he could be an option for them at the position in-season (more on that below).
26-year-old Jonathan Rodriguez will now start at first base and bat ninth in the revised Saturday Cardinals lineup (first pitch at 12:05 pm CT):
Matt Carpenter, 3B
Stephen Piscotty, RF
Jhonny Peralta, SS
Matt Adams, DH
Jedd Gyorko, 2B
Carlos Peguero, LF
Tommy Pham, CF
Brayan Pena, C
Jonathan Rodriguez, 1B
(Marco Gonzales, SP)
The redbirds will send lefty Marco Gonzales, who dealt with shoulder issues that sidelined him for most of last season, to the mound for the start against new Marlin Wei-Yen Chen.
Read more on Holliday at first base and Matheny’s previous comments on it below.
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Previous story — Matt Holliday to make spring debut — at first base — as Cards face Marlins Saturday
Just three games into Spring Training action, Matt Holliday will get a chance to show he can handle the new position he’s worked at throughout the offseason and into the spring: first base.
In his twelve major league seasons, the veteran has played in 1,614 major league games in the field, every one of them in left field, but on Saturday, Holliday will get the call at first base, batting third in Mike Matheny’s lineup against the Marlins at Roger Dean Stadium.
“If it’s going to be a viable option for us he needs game speed,” Matheny told reporters, including KMOV’s J.J. Bailey, in Jupiter. “He’s passed all the there here (in camp) as far as the mechanics and understanding the different defenses we use. He’s got all that down now and he feels comfortable with what we’re doing so far, so it’s the next level.”
The 36-year-old Holliday worked all winter and into the spring at the position, focusing on footwork around the bag with the help of infield/third base coach Jose Oquendo and other Cardinals first basemen.
Matheny said he gave Holliday some time at the position before asking him about it, but when he did, he received a positive response.
“He said, ‘I like it. I really think if you need me to do that, it’s something I can do. I feel comfortable over there,'” Matheny said. “With that, now let’s figure out what we have to do to see if it translates into game speed. Some of the things you need to work on you can only do by getting in and playing.”
And that’s exactly what Holliday will get the chance to do on Saturday as the club squares off against Marlins starter Wei-Yen Chen. The Cardinals will send lefty Marco Gonzales, who dealt with shoulder issues that sidelined him for most of last season, to the mound for the start.
Saturday’s starting lineup (first pitch at 12:05 pm CT):
Matt Carpenter, 3B
Stephen Piscotty, RF
Matt Holliday, 1B
Jhonny Peralta, SS
Matt Adams, DH
Jedd Gyorko, 2B
Carlos Peguero, LF
Tommy Pham, CF
Brayan Pena, C
(Marco Gonzales, SP)
