The St. Louis Cardinals have been sizzling as a team since the calendar turned to May, winning four straight series and five games in a row, including a three-game sweep of the Pirates. The Pirates series had plenty of action with Matthew Liberatore and Sonny Gray dealing and Victor Scott II showing off his speed but the Cardinals will be tasked with putting their road woes behind them with a long road trip. While the team currently sits at .500 overall, their road record sits at an abysmal 4-13.

Things seem to be moving in the right direction, however, as players have started to put things together and it appears that catcher Ivan Herrera will be returning from a rehab assignment when the road trip begins in Washington. I briefly covered what his return could do to the offense in another story, but with guys starting to get hot, I wanted to take a look at some potential lineups to get everyone the at-bats they deserve.

Before the injury to his knee, Herrera was one of the best hitters in baseball, putting up an incredible 1.506 OPS and only recently lost the team-lead in home runs when he had four big flies a month ago. After some initial rest and rehab, Herrera has continued to mash while getting back into game shape in Memphis, hitting .391 with a homer, a double, and four RBIs while working primarily as the DH. Because of his defensive struggles behind the plate, the Cardinals could opt to have him slot in as the regular designated hitter and keep the defensive-minded Pedro Pages as the primary catcher.

A couple weeks ago, this seemed like a no-brainer as the Cardinals were the only team in the majors who did not have a home run from their DH position and struggled mightily to fill that spot with a combination of Alec Burleson, Luken Baker, and Willson Contreras. Much has changed since then, however.

Luken Baker was optioned to Memphis last night to prepare for the return of Herrera, which would show that the Cardinals are opting to keep three catchers on the roster with Yohel Pozo keeping his spot with the big league club. This could point to the fact that the Cardinals either want to ease Herrera back into action as the DH, or do not think his defense has progressed enough to catch every day at the major league level. Again, this would have made sense a week or so ago but both Burleson and Contreras have been on a power surge in May.

Burleson has been without a defensive position for the majority of the season, seeing time at first base sparingly and has played in the outfield just once this year. I was ready to write him off until he turned a corner, putting up a .522 slugging percentage with two homers and a double (a game-winner against Paul Skenes) in May. Most of these at-bats have come as the DH, especially against right-handed pitchers. Add in Contreras, who has been scorching since the end of April and the DH spot appears to be locked in from both sides of the plate. The final big question for manager Oli Marmol to answer is where Herrera will hit in the lineup when he returns. He was their best run producer and power hitter, but with Contreras and Donovan playing at All-Star levels and Arenado seemingly entrenched in the four-spot, Herrera could be bumped as low as sixth in the order. Marmol could also swap with Winn and move him up to the second spot, but Winn has also been on fire since the lineup change.

One option, then, would be to end Jordan Walker’s runway in right field, shift Lars Nootbaar over and have Burleson slot in as the normal left fielder. Victor Scott II and Nootbaar are capable defenders who can make up for Burleson’s lack of defensive prowess. This could result in Walker being optioned down to Memphis for the third time in three seasons or become a bench bat fighting for at-bats with Nolan Gorman and Jose Barrero. A lineup sans-Walker could look like this:

1. Lars Nootbaar, RF
2. Masyn Winn, SS
3. Brendan Donovan, 2B
4. Nolan Arenado, 3B
5. Willson Contreras, 1B
6. Ivan Herrera, DH
7. Alec Burleson, LF
8. Pedro Pages, C
9. Victor Scott II, CF

Option two would be for Herrera and Pages to continue to split time behind the plate and keep Burleson as the DH and Walker in right field. The issue with this is Herrera’s inability to throw anyone out on the bases and Walker not showing the progression we hoped in his third year with the team. This lineup could look like this:

1. Lars Nootbaar, LF
2. Masyn Winn, SS
3. Brendan Donovan, 2B
4. Nolan Arenado, 3B
5. Willson Contreras, 1B
6. Ivan Herrera, C
7. Alec Burleson, DH
8. Jordan Walker, RF
9. Victor Scott II, CF

While not much changes, the addition of Walker to the lineup limits the run-producing ability at the bottom of the order. At the time of this writing, Walker was hitting .196 with 11 RBIs and a miserable 31.1% strikeout rate. The final option would be to have Brendan Donovan move into the outfield full-time, again supplanting Walker in the grass, and move Nolan Gorman to second base and Herrera as the primary catcher. If his defense really is still a question mark, he could slot in as the DH but then Burleson is again left without a spot. This option could happen when the Cardinals face a right-handed starter and could look as follows:

1. Lars Nootbaar, RF
2. Masyn Winn, SS
3. Brendan Donovan, LF
4. Nolan Arenado, 3B
5. Willson Contreras, 1B
6. Ivan Herrera, C
7. Alec Burleson, DH
8. Nolan Gorman, 2B
9. Victor Scott II, CF

We probably will not get a final answer on the lineup quickly as Marmol will most likely want to throw a few options out there and find what sticks. No matter what he chooses, though, it appears that Jordan Walker’s runway could be nearing its end.