JUPITER, Fla. • For the first time this spring, Matt Carpenter moved to third base and Jedd Gyorko started at second for the Cardinals on Sunday. Carpenter later turned up for three innings at second base and Gyorko went back to third for three innings.
But, as manager Mike Matheny pointed out before the Cardinals’ 10-0 win over the Washington Nationals, this does not qualify as an “experiment. These guys have played those positions,” Matheny said.
In truth, Carpenter has started more than twice as many games (414) at third base than any other position in his big-league career and Gyorko more than twice as many games (341) at second than any other position.