[The following UCB roundtable question comes from Ben at All Cardinals, All The Time.]

At this point in time, who do you see as the starting third baseman: Joey Bombs Mather, David Freese, or Felipe Lopez? I ask this because a third baseman can be a cornerstone of a solid defense, as well as provide concrete impact offensively.

We wouldn’t be surprised if Felipe Lopez were in the lineup as the opening-day starting third baseman against Aaron Harang, whom Lopez hits well (.538 OBP in 13 PAs). After that, Freese is likely the man, at least most of the time. His off-the-field problems don’t seem to bother the Cardinals, so even if he commits another gaffe outside the lines, we don’t see it endangering his job as much as a prolonged funk at the plate, which the Cardinals will be less inclined to endure given Lopez as a more-than-serviceable option. As for defense, Freese offers the best leather. Mather, if he makes the squad, appears slotted for all the corner spots but third.

This entry was posted by Pip on Thursday, March 11th, 2010 at 8:40 pm and is filed under group blogging. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.