Where is best batting spot in lineup for Wetherholt ?

[Cardinals1964]

JJ batted leadoff quite a bit in the minors. In past years, Oli often puts the newbies in 7th slot (at least to start out and then moves them up as they do better ). The math shows that batting leadoff (No. 1) vs. 7th in a lineup will have the No. 1 hitter getting 100 to 120 more plate appearances in a 162 game season.
Walker batted .276 his rookie year with the Cardinals . A .276 leadoff hitter getting 100 more plate appearances could translate to 20 + more hits (excluding the walks in those 100 ) .
One thing if JJ ends up batting leadoff is that as the lineup gets thru the first couple innngs, Wetherholt could bat immediately after VS II (if Oli keeps Victor at 9th spot). Those times that VS II does get on base and attempts a steal (he has high success rate ) there would be a few more times that JJ could come up with VS II in scoring positon for Wetherholt.
I think leadoff would be an ideal spot for JJ. Others may want him elsewhere. Your thoughts ? The more at bats he gets in 2026 the better for the team is how I see it .

Winn - SS
Wetherholt - 2B
Herrera - C
Burly - 1B
Saggese - 3B
Gorman - DH
Walker - RF
Fermin - LF
Scott - CF

Projecting both a potential OD roster and what the team has shown as a desire to do.
Either Winn or Scott can't do LO and make outs 70% of the time. Winn has shown better bat
control than Scott and maybe it works this time. ST should mean something. Both need to change
or their ability to run is negated by an inability to reach base. Average or below average
can't hit first or Melville's point comes to light with the 1st inning futility.

Saggese has to show ability to sting the ball o/w he can't bat #5. So with all the thoughts that you have
involved in this, IF this is the 9, and 2026 repeats 2025 in some regard I'd strongly consider Fermin at LO.

Fermin
JJ
IH
Burly
Saggese/JW
Gorman
JW/Saggese
Scott.
Winn

Hopefully somebody steps up a substantial amount to change this. Church out producing
Fermin or Scott would impact. Power by anyone including Velazquez would help.

Fermin with a .220 average in parts of 3 seasons would be the obvious lead off man. Maybe Siani batting 2nd.

[sikeston bulldog2]

Cardinals4Life .. see the plan if he plays 2nd ,bat him 2nd I guess if he plays 3rd base , bat him 3rd So does it follow to bat him clean up , have him be the 4th outfielder

I was curious if anyone would pick up on that attempt at humor.

[2ninr]

We all know how Marmol likes the left-right-left-right thing. So, if Scott stays at 9, then Winn at 1, Wetherholt 2 , Herrera 3, and Burleson 4. 5-6-7-8 are a little dicey, but say Saggese, Gorman, Walker, ?, then Scott. The 8th spot could depend on who’s catching that day, or who the opposing pitcher is that day.

"We all know how Marmol likes the left-right-left-right thing."
That is true - and unfortunately The Marmot lacks the intelligence to think beyond his own assumptions and habits.
The Cardinals were one of the worst teams in MLB in 2025 (and have been ever since he became the lapdog in the manager's seat) at scoring first inning runs - which is a sever issue since the team leading after the first inning wins nearly 70% of all games.
He needs to devote the first 30-45 games of the season to determine if the roster has the ingredients to correct that massive shortcoming.
Therefore, the CORRECT BASEBALL DECISION would be Scott at leadoff and Whetherholt 2nd against RH starters.
The team simply must find out if those 2 can provide an offensive spark on a regularly basis.
There is no logical alternative.
Following them should be DH Herrera, 1B Burleson, SS Winn, 3B Gorman, RF Walker, C Pages/Crooks, and LF Scrum.
Obviously, the idiotic failure to acquire a RH hitting left fielder in the Donovan deal is exposed by the team not having any such option for the #5 spot, which would permit Win to hit 9th.
That said, there is still time for Bloom to pull a rabbit from his hat, so it is still premature to project a lineup.

Just a little editorial on my part Mel-but when people start their post by insulting or complaining about a particular player or coach/manager, I typically move on from there without reading the rest. I'm not interested in their personal bias. And it doesn’t help when you use terms like idiotic in your descriptions. Sounds a bit uneducated. But for some reason I continued on and you pretty much presented a good lineup with solid reasoning why.

[ggnoobs]

The correct answer is he should hit in the 2 hole from Day 1.


Marmol will undoubtedly get it wrong!

I also think hitting 2nd is the answer. Like LaRussa did with JD Drew.

[Melville]

We all know how Marmol likes the left-right-left-right thing. So, if Scott stays at 9, then Winn at 1, Wetherholt 2 , Herrera 3, and Burleson 4. 5-6-7-8 are a little dicey, but say Saggese, Gorman, Walker, ?, then Scott. The 8th spot could depend on who’s catching that day, or who the opposing pitcher is that day.

"We all know how Marmol likes the left-right-left-right thing."
That is true - and unfortunately The Marmot lacks the intelligence to think beyond his own assumptions and habits.
The Cardinals were one of the worst teams in MLB in 2025 (and have been ever since he became the lapdog in the manager's seat) at scoring first inning runs - which is a sever issue since the team leading after the first inning wins nearly 70% of all games.
He needs to devote the first 30-45 games of the season to determine if the roster has the ingredients to correct that massive shortcoming.
Therefore, the CORRECT BASEBALL DECISION would be Scott at leadoff and Whetherholt 2nd against RH starters.
The team simply must find out if those 2 can provide an offensive spark on a regularly basis.
There is no logical alternative.
Following them should be DH Herrera, 1B Burleson, SS Winn, 3B Gorman, RF Walker, C Pages/Crooks, and LF Scrum.
Obviously, the idiotic failure to acquire a RH hitting left fielder in the Donovan deal is exposed by the team not having any such option for the #5 spot, which would permit Winn to hit 9th.
That said, there is still time for Bloom to pull a rabbit from his hat, so it is still premature to project a lineup.

Just a little editorial on my part Mel-but when people start their post by insulting or complaining about a particular player or coach/manager, I typically move on from there without reading the rest. I'm not interested in their personal bias. And it doesn’t help when you use terms like idiotic in your descriptions. Sounds a bit uneducated. But for some reason I continued on and you pretty much presented a good lineup with solid reasoning why.

With respect, there are no insults in my post above.
Just reality.
It is a fact, as Hoosier correctly pointed out, that The Marmot has anear robotic reliance on LH/RH alternating batting orders.
It is a fact that The Marmot has not yet displayed the necessary intelligence to examine his habit despite the fact that anemic run production proves year after year that what he is doing is not effective and must be re-evaluated.
That said, glad you appreciated the content rich post.

[2ninr]

We all know how Marmol likes the left-right-left-right thing. So, if Scott stays at 9, then Winn at 1, Wetherholt 2 , Herrera 3, and Burleson 4. 5-6-7-8 are a little dicey, but say Saggese, Gorman, Walker, ?, then Scott. The 8th spot could depend on who’s catching that day, or who the opposing pitcher is that day.

"We all know how Marmol likes the left-right-left-right thing."
That is true - and unfortunately The Marmot lacks the intelligence to think beyond his own assumptions and habits.
The Cardinals were one of the worst teams in MLB in 2025 (and have been ever since he became the lapdog in the manager's seat) at scoring first inning runs - which is a sever issue since the team leading after the first inning wins nearly 70% of all games.
He needs to devote the first 30-45 games of the season to determine if the roster has the ingredients to correct that massive shortcoming.
Therefore, the CORRECT BASEBALL DECISION would be Scott at leadoff and Whetherholt 2nd against RH starters.
The team simply must find out if those 2 can provide an offensive spark on a regularly basis.
There is no logical alternative.
Following them should be DH Herrera, 1B Burleson, SS Winn, 3B Gorman, RF Walker, C Pages/Crooks, and LF Scrum.
Obviously, the idiotic failure to acquire a RH hitting left fielder in the Donovan deal is exposed by the team not having any such option for the #5 spot, which would permit Winn to hit 9th.
That said, there is still time for Bloom to pull a rabbit from his hat, so it is still premature to project a lineup.

Just a little editorial on my part Mel-but when people start their post by insulting or complaining about a particular player or coach/manager, I typically move on from there without reading the rest. I'm not interested in their personal bias. And it doesn’t help when you use terms like idiotic in your descriptions. Sounds a bit uneducated. But for some reason I continued on and you pretty much presented a good lineup with solid reasoning why.

With respect, there are no insults in my post above.
Just reality.
It is a fact, as Hoosier correctly pointed out, that The Marmot has anear robotic reliance on LH/RH alternating batting orders.
It is a fact that The Marmot has not yet displayed the necessary intelligence to examine his habit despite the fact that anemic run production proves year after year that what he is doing is not effective and must be re-evaluated.
That said, glad you appreciated the content rich post.

That's better journalism.

[ScotchMIrish]

At one time Wetherholt would probably not be in the starting lineup on opening day and if he was he would bat 8th. In 2026 who knows? It probably depends on what he does in spring training.

[cosmo.kramer]

Wetherholt / Church batting positions while playing together in Memphis (X for off day):
.
1 / 2
1 / 2
1 / 2
.
1 / 2
1 / 2
X / 1
1 / 2
1 / X
1 / 2
.
1 / 2
1 / 2
1 / 2
1 / 2
X / 1
1 / 2
.
2 / 3
1 / X
X / 1
1 / 3
1 / 3
1 / 2
.
1 / 3
1 / 3
X / 2
1 / 2
1 / 3
.
Batting lines in AAA while together (~120 PA's):
Wetherholt .295/.395/.663/1.058
Church .316/.366/.474/.840
.
Batting lines in AAA while not together (~110 PA's):
Wetherholt .333/.439/.456/.895
Church .356/.436/.574/1.010
.
They both crushed Memphis, but seems like Wetherholt is primed to leadoff sooner than later.

[cosmo.kramer]

Wetherholt / Church batting positions while playing together in Memphis (X for off day):
.
1 / 2
.
Batting lines in AAA while together (~120 PA's):
Wetherholt .295/.395/.663/1.058
Church .316/.366/.474/.840
.
Batting lines in AAA while not together (~110 PA's):
Wetherholt .333/.439/.456/.895
Church .356/.436/.574/1.010
.
They both crushed Memphis, but seems like Wetherholt is primed to leadoff sooner than later.

I looked at a few other years in Memphis to see which lineups were common.

Wetherholt / Church at 1 / 2 in 2025
Scott / Walker / Saggese at 1 / 2 / 5 in 2024
Winn / Herrera at 1 / 3 in 2023
Burleson at 4 in 2022
Gorman at 2/3 in 2021