One thing that really ate at me during today’s Cards/Reds game was the lineup that new Cardinals manager Mike Matheny drew up for the game. Scratched for today’s game were not only first baseman Lance Berkman, but also David Freese and Carlos Beltran. Three of the four biggest bats in the lineup were gone, and it made me feel quite a bit doubtful about the team’s chances for a series sweep, even after Jon Jay’s 2-run homer. It just didn’t make any sense to me to sit all those guys on the same day, especially Freese, who is swinging a very hot bat and leading the league in hits and runs batted in.

If you are forced to sit one of them due to an injury (Berkman was nursing a sore leg), then at least start two of the other three, if not all three. We need our biggest bats in there every game, not just two games of a three-game series. I can only assume this was done because he felt today’s day game in Cincy was a throwaway game due to the Cards picking up wins in the first two games of the series. Matheny was quoted as saying he had the long-term stability of the ballclub in mind. OK, fair enough, but again, why rest all three on the same day?

“We’re all cognizant of the point that we have a long way to go,” Matheny said. “Giving them a day [off] like this has a lot of positives. We’re not going to abuse them or ride them when they’re doing well.”

A lot of positives, of course, except for one big negative, and that is the fact that it might just cost you the game you have in front of you!

Having Freese and Beltran in the starting lineup could have provided the team with a little extra pop to maybe score a couple more runs, and could have provided starting pitcher Jaime Garcia with an extra run or two. I hope he realizes it’s a mistake to rest this many big bats on the same day and doesn’t do it anymore, lest we lose any more games needlessly simply because he was confusing positives with negatives.

Want to give these guys days off? Fine, but do it smartly. Don’t sit three of them on the same day. Sit Freese on Monday, Beltran on Tuesday, and Berkman on Wednesday. Have them all in the lineup for the big home opener on Friday, and then sit Holliday on Saturday or Sunday.

The season is still young and Matheny is still learning the tools of his trade.