The Cardinals open their 28-game Grapefruit League schedule Thursday afternoon at Roger Dean Stadium against Miami. Carpenter is expected to play but bat second. Tommy Pham is listed at leadoff on manager Mike Matheny’s initial lineup.

Matheny has urged his players not to put too much weight on where they hit, though he has allowed that spring training offers him a chance to see if reordering the lineup is a way to goose production. He said the lineup will be “a little more fluid than usual.” That’s because the Cardinals have seen a decline in offense during the past three seasons, and they relied on historically overwhelming pitching last season to win 100 games despite scoring the seventh-fewest runs. The idea has been discussed that a way to boost production starts at the top and moving Carpenter toward the middle of the lineup.

“I want to — to use a good term in baseball today — I want to optimize our lineup,” Matheny said. “When I told you guys I’m not married to one particular idea, it’s 100 percent true. I don’t have this idea that it has to look this way or this guy has to be moved here. Put them out here. Put them in different spots. See how it looks. See how they respond. And see how it comes together. …

“I think it will be obvious if it does.”