Jenifer Langosch/MLB.com

UPDATE: Matt Holliday was scratched just before the start of today’s game with what the Cardinals have announced as left side tightness. That shuffles the batting order, of course, so that has been updated below. More details to come after the game.

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This morning the Cardinals announced that David Freese (back tightness) will begin the year on the disabled list. That doesn’t come as a shock given that he hasn’t played since Friday and can’t play for at least two more days after receiving an anti-inflammatory shot. Ryan Jackson will make the Opening Day roster as a result. More here on this development.

That means that the lineup the Cardinals have today is likely to resemble the lineup they’ll feature on Opening Day. The Cardinals are keeping their fingers crossed that Carlos Beltran can make it through a substantial part of the game today. It would be his first Grapefruit League appearance since Feb. 28. In between, he played in nine World Baseball Classic games.

In case you missed the news on Monday, the Cardinals have named Shelby Miller the team’s fifth starter to open the season. That pushes Joe Kelly into the bullpen, where he could fill any sort of roles. He could give the Cardinals length, if needed, but could also be someone called upon late in games or in tight spots. It will be interesting to see if the Cardinals continue encouraging Kelly to become a throw-to-contact sinkerballer since he’ll be pitching out of the ‘pen. He showed last season — particularly in the playoffs — that he can be quite effective as a power pitcher in relief. The transition into a sinkerball pitcher was something both parties envisioned would help Kelly in a starting role.

To read what Miller had to say about winning the starting job, read here.

CARDINALS LINEUP:

Jon Jay (CF) Carlos Beltran (RF) Matt Carpenter (2B) Matt Holliday (LF) Allen Craig (1B) Allen Craig (1B) Carlos Beltran (RF) Yadier Molina © Matt Carpenter (3B) Oscar Taveras (LF) Daniel Descalso (2B) Pete Kozma (SS) Adam Wainwright (RHP)

Pitchers: Adam Wainwright, Marc Rzepczynski, Fernando Salas, Maikel Cleto

METS LINEUP:

Jordany Valdespin (2B) Justin Turner (3B) Ike Davis (3B) Marlon Byrd (RF) Lucas Duda (LF) John Buck © Kirk Nieuwenhuis (CF) Omar Quintanilla (SS) Jeremy Hefner (RHP)

Pitchers: Jeremy Hefner

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