Paul Molitor is rolling out an interesting batting order in today’s spring training game against the St. Louis Cardinals.
Joe Mauer is leading off and Byron Buxton is batting fifth. Twins Daily is in Florida covering the game and posted the lineup card.
What makes today’s lineup even more intriguing is that Molitor probably wouldn’t go with a lineup that he wouldn’t consider using in the regular season, especially considering today’s game features a lot of probable starters. It’s also possible that Mauer would only be used as the leadoff hitter against right-handed starters, like the Cardinals are using today.
Mauer had a .389 on-base percentage against righties last season and a much lower .291 on-base percentage against lefties.
Twins Daily adds that Minnesota’s Chief Baseball Officer, Derek Falvey, was with an Indians team last season that frequently used Carlos Santana as its leadoff hitter. Like Santana, Mauer is good at getting on base but doesn’t have the speed typically associated with leadoff hitters.
The regular season/Home Opener is April 3 against the Royals, so Molitor only has a little more than two weeks to settle in on a favored lineup.
Interesting lineup… Mauer leading off, Buxton batting fifth. pic.twitter.com/tYXZtSX5lN
— Twins Daily (@twinsdaily) March 15, 2017
