Inside The Cardinals

Nolan Arenado Reveals Reason For Shocking Lineup Change

The Cardinals have altered their lineup a little bit.
Zach Pressnell|
May 18, 2025; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; St. Louis Cardinals third baseman Nolan Arenado (28) walks back to the dugout after striking out in the first inning against the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Peter Aiken-Imagn Images
May 18, 2025; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; St. Louis Cardinals third baseman Nolan Arenado (28) walks back to the dugout after striking out in the first inning against the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Peter Aiken-Imagn Images | Peter Aiken-Imagn Images

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St. Louis Cardinals

The St. Louis Cardinals' offense has rolled right along this year, performing much better than many expected it to. Infielder Nolan Arenado has been a huge piece of the puzzle for this offense, but following a fast start, the veteran has cooled off quite a bit.

As a result, Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol moved Arenado from hitting in the cleanup spot down to the six spot ahead of Monday night's game against the Detroit Tigers.

Fans were left scratching their heads following the move, especially since the offense has produced fine for the last few weeks, but Marmol has his reasoning for making such a decision.

Arenado reportedly asked his manager to move him down in the lineup ahead of Monday's game.

“We switched the lineup (because) the guys are playing well in front of me, and the guys were hitting behind me, and they should move up. There's really nothing more to it than that," Arenado said, per MLB beat writer John Denton.

When a veteran like Arenado makes a request like this, it's really saying something. Arenado's seemingly a very team-oriented guy that understands the game and the situation at hand.

The slugger has posted an OPS near .600 this month, which is one of the big reasons why the move down in the lineup makes plenty of sense. Willson Contreras, the one replacing Arenado at No. 4 in the lineup, has an OPS over .900 on the month.

When diving a bit deeper into it, the move makes sense. That should be the end of the story.

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Zach Pressnell
ZACH PRESSNELL

Zach Pressnell has experience covering all major US sports at both the professional and collegiate levels. He’s produced content for FanSided, Blog Red Machine, The Game Haus, Bethany College Athletics and the Bethany College online newspaper, He graduated from Bethany College (WV) with a degree in Communications and Media Arts, specializing in Sports Journalism. Pressnell was also a four-year member of the baseball team where he earned himself All-PAC recognition as a pitcher (and a cool Tommy John surgery scar). Now, Pressnell specializes in NFL and MLB coverage for Sports Illustrated’s “On SI” network among others. For all business/marketing inquiries regarding "St. Louis Cardinals On SI," please reach out to Scott Neville: scott@wtfsports.org

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