Cards’ versatility pays off as Carlson mashes two homers

WASHINGTON — With seven wholesome outfielders and choices to make every day about deploying probably the most advantageous combos, supervisor Oliver Marmol can nearly line shift his beginning lineup based mostly on what he’s trying to prioritize on a specific night time. 

On Monday, it was protection. Tuesday? Platoon splits/matchups. Marmol turned over two-thirds of his outfield to begin towards left-hander MacKenzie Gore, and it paid off. Dylan Carlson homered twice to again seven sturdy innings from Jordan Montgomery, and the Cardinals cruised to their fourth straight win, a 9-3 victory over the Nationals at Nationals Park.

“Sometimes you have to have confidence before things start to go your way, and this group has been trying that for a while now, and they haven’t gotten it, so it’s good to be able to see them get rewarded,” Marmol mentioned. “We’re in a really good spot right now. We really are. Mentally, physically, the guys are feeling pretty good.”

Carlson appears the possible candidate to have taking part in time squeezed with Tommy Edman taking part in nicely in middle subject and Lars Nootbaar’s return from damage this week. Carlson responded Tuesday together with his first multi-homer sport since Sept. 30, 2021, tagging Gore for a two-run 445-foot shot within the second to open the scoring and including a solo homer off Gore within the sixth.

Carlson’s first homer marked the longest hit at Nationals Park this season, touchdown close to the grass “W” brand etched into the batter’s eye past the center-field wall.

“Really good, and it’s something he can build off,” Marmol mentioned. “This is a guy who plays really nice defense for us. An offensive day like this is good to see.” 

It was indicative of the thump the Cardinals can count on from a wholesome Carlson, who slugged 18 homers as a 22-year-old rookie in 2021 however watched that whole slide to eight amid accidents final season. He’s now hit 5, together with a .246/.327/.415 slash line, in 42 video games this season. Though Tuesday’s homers had been his first two right-handed this season, the switch-hitting Carlson is traditionally rather more productive towards left-handed pitching. 

“Being a switch-hitter, it’s two different swings and, honestly, two different brains almost,” Carlson mentioned. “It’s definitely nice when they’re both going at the same time. But that’s just part of it, that give and take and being able to kind of ride that roller coaster.” 

It’ll be as much as Marmol to maximise particular talent units like that with so many choices for a finite variety of spots each night time; on this approach, the flexibility of fellows like Edman (who has performed middle, proper, brief and second this season) and Brendan Donovan (who has performed left, proper, first, second, third and brief this season) helps. That nearly all his main outfield choices are taking part in nicely may make discovering reps for everybody tough, however for the Cardinals, that’s an excellent downside to have as they give the impression of being to show their season round. 

“The challenge is keeping them all sharp, and that’s something that we’re gonna map out well,” Marmol mentioned. “Our goal is to keep them all sharp and not have one guy just sitting for a while.”

The Cardinals put collectively considered one of their higher wins of the season within the opener of this collection whereas highlighting the deserves of what is likely to be their finest defensive alignment: Nootbaar in proper, Edman in middle and Donovan in left. On Tuesday, they proved why working it on the market each night time isn’t so easy.

Carlson is a robust defender, however his worth is negated on the corners, and with Paul DeJong excelling defensively at brief, Marmol penciling in Edman in middle appears to be extra of a relentless than who begins on both aspect of him. On Tuesday towards a left-hander like Gore, the calculus shifted. Carlson began over Nootbaar in proper with Donovan moved to second base for right-handed-hitting Jordan Walker in left.

The closely right-handed Cardinals lineup bashed the Nationals for 14 hits, with Walker extending his now career-high 13 sport hit streak within the course of. That’s the longest by a Cardinals rookie since Albert Pujols had a 17-game streak in 2001.

“It’s true that they’re all performing at the moment,” Marmol mentioned. “I’ll take it.”