Heading into the regular season, it looks as though Cardinals shortstop Brendan Ryan will bat second -- not centerfielder Colby Rasmus, per Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
As Goold points out, Cardinals manager Tony La Russa plans on using Friday's lineup as his regular-season lineup.
On Friday, Ryan batted second and Rasmus batted fifth.
Speaking of Ryan batting the No. 2 spot, La Russa said, "He's been there a lot this spring and he's continued to have good at-bats. He's done good things with it."
"I'm looking at the card, and I'm hitting in front of Albert Pujols. That's awesome," Ryan said. "I wouldn't tell him that. (But) I don't want to hit 13th in the lineup. I want to hit in the first inning."
In deep leagues or NL-only leagues, Ryan should plenty provide value as a guy who will hit for a solid average (.290 or so), steal bases (had 14 steals in 390 at bats last season) and score plenty of runs with Albert Pujols and Matt Holliday hitting behind him.
According to MockDraftCentral.com, Ryan is the 14th shortstop being drafted in NL-only leagues with an ADP of 215.
