Carlson embracing role as leadoff hitter

When the Cardinals returned home on Thursday and decided they wanted to give their lineup a bit of a new look, it should have been little surprise who they turned to for leadoff duties. It was Dylan Carlson, the 22-year-old who leads the club in OBP by nearly 30 points and seems to be the pace car for how -- and when -- the Cardinals’ offense clicks.

The only minor issue: Entering this season, Carlson never hit leadoff in the Majors and said he did so for one of his four years in the Minors.

So Carlson turned to Matt Carpenter, he of 760 career starts as the leadoff hitter, for advice on how to set the table.

“The other day I opened up an at-bat with a walk and saw a lot of pitches, and he just let me know that’s what is kind of expected of that spot,” Carlson said after Monday’s 7-1 series-opening win over the D-backs, when he opened the scoring with an RBI triple and kick-started the seventh-inning rally with an RBI single. “Just being able to see some pitches, take the pressure off the guys behind me just the same way they've taken the pressure off me.”

The Cardinals’ offense has started to string together stronger at-bats. Immediately behind Carlson, in the five days since he moved to leadoff, Nolan Arenado put together a 1.006 OPS, Paul Goldschmidt hammered the second-longest homer of his career and the offense has returned more to its form of making opposing pitchers work early and often.

(The former St. Louis leadoff hitter, Tommy Edman, reclaimed those duties on Tuesday against a lefty, but manager Mike Shildt said Carlson will likely return for Wednesday’s series finale and beyond.)

“The guys at the top of the order can take the appropriate amount of pitches to allow some of the other guys like Goldy and Nolan … to see what we're dealing with a little bit and still be able to be productive deeper in a count,” Shildt said. “Dylan's done a nice job with that.”

Carlson has seen 1,348 pitches this season -- seventh most in the Majors.

And along the way, the 22-year-old has poked his head back above water in the race for NL Rookie of the Year, batting .300 with a .964 OPS and three extra-base hits (including his first homer of the season at home) in five games since claiming full-time leadoff duties.

Here are Carlson’s ranks among NL rookies, entering Tuesday:

• 1.0 fWAR (T-seventh, including pitchers)

• 77 games (first)

• 31 RBIs (first)

• 40 runs scored (first)

• 7 home runs (T-third)

• 33 walks (first)

• 115 wRC+ (sixth)

• .335 wOBA (eighth)

The Marlins’ Trevor Rogers (2.7 fWAR, 2.08 ERA in 15 starts) is the current favorite. But Carlson, as an impactful leadoff hitter, may unlock the potential the Cardinals have seen in him for years into the second half of the season.

“It's been some learning, but we're just kind of rolling with it and playing,” Carlson said. “It's been fun.”

Arenado rising in All-Star voting

The Cardinals have two players in Phase 2 of All-Star voting to start in the Midsummer Classic. As it stands now, following an update from Major League Baseball on Tuesday afternoon, Arenado (36 percent of the vote) has jumped into first place among NL third baseman, up three percentage points on the Dodgers’ Justin Turner and six point on the Cubs’ Kris Bryant, who led the position at the end of Phase 1.

Yadier Molina, the Cardinals’ other finalist, is in second place among NL catchers, with 25 percent of the vote, 20 points behind the Giants’ Buster Posey and five points ahead of the Cubs’ Willson Contreras.

Fans can vote for the All-Star Game at mlb.com/vote -- or on Google by searching "MLB All-Star vote" or "Vote" along with a player's name. You can vote daily on both platforms, including once per day on MLB.com. Voting ends on Thursday at 1 p.m. CT.