The Cardinals continue a home series Saturday against the Diamondbacks. First pitch is 1:15 p.m.

With Ivan Herrera’s return from the injured list and rise up the lineup onto the hitting leaderboards, the Cardinals have not had the same at-bats available two of the young hitters they’d like to see more of this season.

Alec Burleson has seen his at-bats squeezed at designated hitter and Jordan Walker has had to share some of his starts with Burleson in right.

Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol understood when this approach was described as a “platoon” with the left-handed-hitting Burleson and right-handed-hitting Walker, but he stressed that Walker would get starts against right-handed pitchers and that a strict platoon was not developing. He discussed again Saturday morning in his office with media how sorting through playing time and responding to performance is part of the balance.

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That is easier to do Saturday with the continued absence of Willson Contreras.

The Cardinals’ veteran and All-Star felt better, but was still dealing with back tightness Saturday as he received treatment. The Cardinals were not sure if he would be available later in the game to pinch-hit, but the hope is for him to return to the lineup for Sunday’s home stand finale.

A day after stuffing the lineup with left-handed batters to face Miles Mikolas, Arizona is showing the depth of its offense by leaning hard right to face the Cardinals’ left-handed starter Matthew Liberatore. Corbin Caroll, notably, is not in the lineup and MVP-caliber infielder Ketel Marte moves up to leadoff.

Pitchers

Cardinals: LHP Matthew Liberatore (3-3, 2.92 ERA).

Diamondbacks: RHP Merrill Kelly (5-2, 3.26 ERA)

Team records

Cardinals: 28-23, 2nd in NL Central (6-4 in last 10)

Diamondbacks: 26-25, 4th in NL West (5-5 in last 10, lost three consecutive)

How to watch Cardinals vs. Diamondbacks

Where: Busch Stadium, St. Louis

TV/radio: FanDuel Sports Network Midwest (live stream link); KMOX (1120 AM and 104.1 FM), other stations in the Cardinals Radio Network as well as MLB.tv.

Your options to watch: Input your ZIP code and see your choices for watching Cardinals games.

Lineups

P: Matthew Liberatore, LHP

3. Lourdes Gurriel Jr., LF

Injury report

Willson Contreras, 1B (back spasms): The veteran was a late scratch Friday after experiencing spasms and discomfort in the middle of his back during batting practice. He continued to have tightness Saturday, though felt better and less restricted as the day progressed at the ballpark. The Cardinals hope for Contreras to return to the lineup Sunday in the finale against Arizona. Updated May 24

Zach Thompson, LHP (shoulder): Lefty has returned to St. Louis for a re-evaluation after his throwing program stalled this past week in Jupiter, Florida. Although some of the official statements from the Cardinals said that he was throwing at 100 feet and even taking strides toward throwing off the mound, that was not the case. Thompson reached 45 feet at his outer limit when he had to slow his progression due to soreness in the left shoulder. Thompson went about 10 1/2 weeks between throws with a baseball, though in that time he did throw some balls meant to help him rehab and regain strength. Updated May 23

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