The St. Louis Cardinals and Miami Marlins are squaring off at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium in a Grapefruit League matchup on Friday.
The Cardinals started right-hander Miles Mikolas, who will be making his final start before departing for the World Baseball Classic.
However, there was a slight change in the Cardinals lineup today.
Reigning NL MVP Paul Goldschmidt was scheduled to bat third and start at first base.
However, the slugger was scratched and Juan Yepez handled first base duties, hitting third in the Cardinals batting order.
Katie Woo of The Athletic provided the news via Twitter.
Paul Goldschmidt was scratched today, Juan Yepez will bat third and play first base.
No reason was given for Goldschmidt. #STLCards
— Katie Woo (@katiejwoo) March 3, 2023
No reason has been given for Goldschmidt’s removal from the lineup, so the Cardinals and their fans are obviously hoping that it isn’t an injury or anything too serious.
Goldschmidt was active for all but two games last season with the Cardinals.
Due to his vaccination status, he missed both games of a two-game series against the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre last year, as did fellow MVP candidate Nolan Arenado.
Arenado was still in the lineup on Friday.
If anything, this presents another opportunity for Yepez to prove his worth and get some more at-bats.
Yepez had a solid rookie season for the Cardinals last year.
Under the guidance of retiring legend Albert Pujols, the slugger hit .253 with 12 home runs during the regular season.
He also hit a clutch home run in Game 1 of the Wild Card Series against the Philadelphia Phillies.
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