St. Louis Cardinals manager Mike Matheny showed concern that first baseman Matt Carpenter might not be ready for Opening Day.
Matheny said, "If this doesn't stay on track, I don't know if he'll be timed up. Physically, I think he'll be ready. Whether he's timed up and actually ready to be at his best when we bust out of the gate [on Opening Day] in New York. … I think we're at that point right now." All in all, it sounds like even if Carpenter's good to go he might not be 100%. If he's not available or limited, Jose Martinez would be in line to start at first during the opening portion of the 2018 campaign.
Over a projected 601 plate appearances, our models have Carpenter at 23 home runs, 77 RBI and a .255 average for the 2018 season.
Source: Cardinals.com