The St. Louis Cardinals are scheduled to play their home opener at Busch Stadium against the Miami Marlins on Thursday, and Lance Lynn is expected to be their starting pitcher, returning to the team he played for earlier in his career. He opened up on what it will be like to step on the mound as a Cardinals starting pitcher again.

“I had hope that I would never pitch on that mound, except in a Cardinals uniform,” Lance Lynn said, via Katie Woo of The Athletic. “So the fun that that's going to bring, I'm looking forward to it. It's going to be exciting.”

Lynn started his career with the Cardinals in 2011, and stayed with the team through the 2017 season. He signed a one-year deal with the Minnesota Twins in 2017, and was traded to the New York Yankees in the middle of that season. He then spent two seasons with the Texas Rangers before going to the Chicago White Sox, where he stayed until he was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the middle of the 2023 season.

Now in his age 37 season, Lynn is back with the Cardinals, a team he never thought he would return to.

“That's just how it's ingrained in baseball today,” Lynn said, via Woo. “You enjoy your time there, you appreciate the memories, the things you learn and the relationships, but also you can't be worried about the past. I had to figure out what was next.

Lynn joked about his reaction when Cardinals manager Oli Marmol told him he would be the starting pitcher for the team's home opener.

“Terrible Idea. The fans will have it,” Lynn said, via Woo.

Lynn's first outing of the season came against the Dodgers, and although he pitched just four innings, he did shut out Los Angeles in those inning. The Cardinals eventually won that game 6-5 in 10 innings.

Cardinals look to hit their stride at home

The Cardinals return home with a 3-4 record, which is not staggering by any means, but considering they started the season on the road against two of the most talented teams in the Dodgers and San Diego Padres, it could have been much worse.

St. Louis has a six-game home stand that starts on Thursday against the Marlins. The second two games of that series will be played on Saturday and Sunday.

Then the Cardinals will welcome in the Philadelphia Phillies for a three-game series next week. It will be an interesting test for the Cardinals against one of the more potent lineups in baseball. St. Louis revamped its starting rotation to try to compete this year. Lynn was part of that.

Being a veteran, Lynn is likely not intimidated by being given the ball for the home opener with the Cardinals. It will be interesting to see how he fares.