MIAMI — The idea behind swapping switch-hitters atop the Cardinals' lineup was to see if Dylan Carlson might pounce on some of the pitches that spot sees and do so with power.
"There's nothing wrong with 1-0 after the first pitch," manager Oliver Marmol said during spring training.
The results of the move have been slower than the fast start intended.
Carlson went hitless in five at-bats Tuesday night against the Marlins and tumbled into a zero-for-14 with back-to-back oh-fives. His batting average sank to .158, his on-base percentage to .209, and for the first time he has more strikeouts (seven) than hits (six) in the budding season. Carlson will get Wednesday off as the Cardinals ready to face their former leading pitching prospect, Marlins All-Star and ace Sandy Alcantara.
The switch at leadoff brings back a familiar swing there.
Tommy Edman, who had two hits and two RBIs on Tuesday, returns to the spot he manned the majority of 2021. Edman finished second in doubles while batting leadoff for the Cardinals and topped the league with 641 at-bats. He's spent the opening weeks of this season bouncing around the backend of the lineup, batting ninth some days and as high as No. 6 against lefties.
He's socked three home runs already this season and he's hitting .355 with a .412 on-base percentage.
Five of his 11 hits have gone for extra bases.
It's a quick rewrite for Marmol so early in the season, but the timing is there for Edman return to leadoff if his success continues and Carlson's search does, too.
Cardinals starter Miles Mikolas is coming off his finest start since before injuries ended his 2020 before it started and truncated his contributions during the 2021 season. Mikolas struck out seven in his strong 6 2/3 innings earlier on this road trip in Milwaukee. He is the only Cardinals starter to pitch into the seventh inning so far this season, and repeating that feat has increased value to the Cardinals on Wednesday.
The team is set to have right-hander Jordan Hicks make the first start of his major-league career on Thursday, and he'll be limited to two or three innings and, at most, around 55 pitches, if not less.
That will leave ample innings for the long relievers to cover, and while the Cardinals are carrying three of them with the expanded roster they would prefer not to dip into those innings Wednesday. The idea of putting Hicks on Thursday was to bookend him with veteran starters: Mikolas on Wednesday and lefty Steven Matz to start series in Cincinnati.
Opposite Mikolas will be the teammate who could have been.
Alcantara, 26, is one of the sturdy young pitchers in the majors and the front man for the Marlins' rotation. The right-hander was acquired from the Cardinals in the Marcell Ozuna trade, and already this season he's 1-0 with a 3.18 ERA in his first two starts. He's struck out nine in 11 1/3 innings but allowed 17 baserunners.
He'll be making his 81st start for the Marlins, and in the previous 80 he's pitched 490 innings with more strikeouts (430) than hits allowed (420) and 3.47 ERA.
Here is the lineup that will face Alcantara:
CARDINALS
1. Tommy Edman, 2B
2. Paul Goldschmidt, 1B
3. Tyler O'Neill, LF
4. Nolan Arenado, 3B
5. Corey Dickerson, DH
6. Lars Nootbaar, RF
7. Paul DeJong, SS
8. Yadier Molina, C
9. Harrison Bader, CF
P: Miles Mikolas, RHP
