St. Louis Cardinals Make History With Incredibly Young Opening Day Starting Lineup
Between Nolan Gorman, Victor Scott II, Masyn Winn and Jordan Walker, the St. Louis Cardinals are set to have a historic number of youngsters in their lineup against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The St. Louis Cardinals have revealed their starting lineup for Thursday's Opening Day showdown against the Los Angeles Dodgers, and it appears as if their youth movement is in full swing.
Second baseman Nolan Gorman, 23, is batting third. Filling the seven, eight and nine holes are 21-year-old right fielder Jordan Walker, 23-year-old center fielder Victor Scott II and 22-year-old shortstop Masyn Winn.
According to MLB.com's Sarah Langs, the Cardinals are the first team to start at least four position players 23 years old or younger on Opening Day since the Tampa Bay then-Devil Rays in 2007. Tampa Bay had BJ Upton, Delmon Young, Dioner Navarro and Elijah Dukes suited up that afternoon.
As for the Cardinals' own franchise history, this marks just the third time the club has boasted this many young bats on Opening Day since 1900. They previously achieved the feat in 1916 and 1924 – exactly a century ago.
Gorman was always a lock to start on Opening Day, considering the former top prospect had already spent the better part of two seasons in the big leagues. Walker enjoyed a solid rookie year in 2023, while Winn earned a late-season call-up of his own.
Scott, on the other hand, was a non-roster invitee at Spring Training who went on to hit .317 in Grapefruit League play. Despite never even taking an at-bat in Triple-A, Scott earned a big league roster spot and is set to make his MLB debut Thursday in Los Angeles.
Ironically, the Cardinals' starting rotation is on the opposite end of the spectrum as the lineup.
Opening Day starting pitcher Miles Mikolas is 35 years old. Adding in Lance Lynn, Steven Matz, Kyle Gibson and Sonny Gray, the average age of St. Louis' rotation is 35.2 years old.
First pitch between the Cardinals and Dodgers is scheduled for 4:10 p.m. ET.
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