Well, technically, Ray Lankford is retired and not on the roster, but he was really cool.
NLCS Game 1: Holliday, Furcal In Cardinals’ Lineup; Lankford Out
If there was any mystery to be had with the St. Louis Cardinals' lineup, it was with the health and availability of their star left-fielder, Matt Holliday, who was limited to pinch-hitting duties for most of the NLDS. He's in the lineup for the first game of the NLCS against the Brewers, though, and he's joined by shortstop Rafael Furcal.
Rafael Furcal# - SS
Jon Jay* - CF
Albert Pujols - 1B
Lance Berkman# - RF
Matt Holliday - LF
Yadier Molina - C
David Freese - 3B
Ryan Theriot - 2B
Jaime Garcia* - P
After all the injuries -- including those to Freese, Pujols, Holliday, and Furcal -- it’s pretty fortuitous that they could cobble together their optimal lineup right as the NLCS starts. The Cardinals had the best OPS+ and runs scored total in the league during the regular season, and that’s with a few of their key contributors missing a chunk of time.
How has Zack Greinke fared against the current Cardinals? Well, I'll tell you, but only because the internet makes it easy to find out, not because it really means anything:
| PA | HR | BB | SO | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nick Punto | 24 | 0 | 4 | 5 | .211 | .348 | .211 | .558 |
| Albert Pujols | 21 | 0 | 3 | 2 | .278 | .381 | .389 | .770 |
| Gerald Laird | 20 | 0 | 0 | 3 | .300 | .300 | .350 | .650 |
| Skip Schumaker | 16 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .333 | .333 | .400 | .733 |
| Matt Holliday | 13 | 2 | 1 | 0 | .417 | .462 | .917 | 1.378 |
| Yadier Molina | 12 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .364 | .333 | .455 | .788 |
| Lance Berkman | 9 | 1 | 0 | 4 | .333 | .333 | .778 | 1.111 |
| Jon Jay | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .333 | .333 | .333 | .667 |
| Chris Carpenter | 7 | 0 | 0 | 5 | .143 | .143 | .143 | .286 |
| Rafael Furcal | 7 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .286 | .286 | .714 | 1.000 |
| Daniel Descalso | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .333 | .333 | .500 | .833 |
| David Freese | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .200 | .333 | .200 | .533 |
| Ryan Theriot | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .000 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| Total | 154 | 4 | 9 | 27 | .289 | .329 | .423 | .751 |
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com
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