BOSTON — There are many methods a manager will use to write a lineup, from mining data for the right matchups to placing hitters for protection to pulling names out of a hat, as Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol joked this weekend he might do. (He didn’t.)
The best remains when performance guides the pen, and a lineup reveals itself.
That’s what led to Tommy Edman returning to leadoff this season, what crystallized as Tyler O’Neill thrived at the No. 3 spot last season, and what’s happening now as the Cardinals’ lineup looks different than designed but its production looks like they imagined.