St. Louis Cardinals Vs. Chicago Cubs (6/3/22) Starting Lineup, Betting Odds, Prediction

The Cardinals are led by rookie skipper Oliver Marmol and are +250 to win the National League Central and +3000 to win the 2022 World Series; they last won the World Series in 2011.  St. Louis is currently eight games over .500: second place in the Central Division.  The Chicago Cubs are currently eight games under .500 in fourth place in the National League Central, ten games out of first place.  Chicago is +9000 to win their division in 2022.  Between 2015 and 2020, the Cubs made the playoffs in five out of six seasons. 

St. Louis Cardinals Vs. Chicago Cubs Betting Odds

The Cardinals have a road record of 13-11 as they play their rival, the Chicago Cubs.  St. Louis is -125 to win this early June series against Chicago.  The Cardinals are 4-2 in their last six games vs. a right-handed starter.  St. Louis is 35-17 in their last 52 road games.  The Cardinals are 5-1 in the last six meetings in Chicago against the Cubs.

Chicago is 10-17 in the “Friendly Confines” of Wrigley Field in 2022.  The Cubs are +100 to win this series against the Cardinals as the home team.  Chicago is 3-7 in the last 10 meetings with St. Louis.  The Cubs are 18-41 in their last 59 home games.  Chicago is 5-23 in their last 28 home games vs. a team with a winning record.

St. Louis Cardinals Starting Lineup

SS T. Edman S
RF B. Donovan L
1B P. Goldschmidt R
3B N. Arenado R
DH J. Yepez R
2B N. Gorman L
LF C. Dickerson L
CF H. Bader R
C A. Knizner R

St. Louis Cardinals Vs. Marcus Stroman (R)

Paul Goldschmidt is a lifetime hitter of .293 with 280 home runs, the first baseman currently leads the National League in batting average at .349: three points ahead of the Padres Manny Machado, hits (66) and OPS (1.042).  He’s second in the NL in runs batted in with 44 and has smacked 11 home runs.  Goldschmidt has 117 total bases with a .619 slugging percentage in 2022; he currently is +650 to win the National League MVP.

Third baseman Nolan Arenado is in hitting .280 this season 13 doubles, 10 home runs, 36 runs batted in with 94 total bases.   He has an OPS of .865 with a .516 slugging percentage for the Cardinals in 2022.  Arenado is +1400 to win his first National League MVP award.  Second baseman Tommy Edman is hitting .272 with eight doubles, three triples, four home runs with 78 total bases this year.   He’s also driven in 22 runs and scored 38 runs for St. Louis this season.  Additionally, Edman has .347 on- base percentage, 12 stolen bases and a .408 slugging percentage.  Albert Pujols back with the Cardinals in his final season at age 42, has hit four home runs, 15 runs driven in with a .715 OPS.  The two-time World Series champion with St. Louis is a career .296 hitter with 683 home runs, 2,165 runs batted in and National League MVP awards.

Marcus Stroman is 2-4 in eight starts with a 3.95 ERA in first season as a Chicago Cub.  The righty has struck out 38 hitters and allowed 19 earned runs in 43 1/3 innings with a WHIP of 1.085 in 2022.  Lifetime in three appearances against St. Louis, Stroman is 1-1 with a 2.65 ERA in 17 innings.

Chicago Cubs Starting Lineup

CF C. Morel R
LF I. Happ S
DH F. Schwindel R
3B P. Wisdom R
1B A. Rivas L
C P.J. Higgins R
RF J. Heyward L
SS N. Hoerner R
2B A. Simmons R

Chicago Cubs Vs. Miles Mikolas (R)

Patrick Wisdom mashed 28 homers and drove in 61 runs in 106 games in 2021.  This year he leads the club in home runs with 11 and tied for the team leads in runs batted in with 27.  Wisdom has an OPS of .781 and a .479 slugging percentage in 2022.  Nico Hoerner is hitting .285 this year with four doubles, a triple, three home runs and 16 runs driven in.  He has an OPS of .719 with a .407 slugging percentage.  Frank Schwindel is third on the team in home runs this season with seven.  The first baseman is second in runs batted in for Chicago with 26.

Ian Happ is hitting .258 with nine doubles, a triple, six home runs and 71 total bases.  Additionally, he’s tied for the team lead in 27 runs batted in and has scored 26 runs in 2022. Seiya Suzuki in his first season in the big leagues is batting .245 with four home runs, 21 runs batted in and 60 total bases.  He’s also slugging .432 with an OPS of .775.  Suzuki is currently out indefinitely due to a finger injury.

Wilson Contreras is a good catcher, who can handle the bat. In 2021 he hit .237 with 21 home runs and 57 runs batted in while accumulating 181 total bases.  This season, he’s hitting .278 in with nine home runs (second on the team), 21 runs batted in with 80 total bases.  Additionally, he has nine doubles with a .530 slugging percentage with an OPS of .931, which leads the Cubs. 

Miles Mikolas is 3-3 in nine starts with a 2.67 ERA in 2022.  He’s struck out 47 batters and allowed 18 earned runs in 60 2/3 innings with a WHIP of 1.055 as the season turns to June.  In 11 career games against the Cubs, he’s 3-2 with a 1.62 ERA in 55 2/3 innings. 

St. Louis Cardinals Vs. Chicago Cubs Picks & Prediction

St. Louis is scoring 4.81 runs per game, fourth in the majors.  The Cardinals are hitting .252 as a team, fifth in MLB with an OPS of .716 which is 10^th in the big leagues.  St. Louis’s pitching staff is allowing 3.90 runs per nine innings, seventh in the majors with opponents hitting .239, 16^th in the league.  Offensively, the Cubs are averaging 4.51 runs per nine innings, 12^th in the majors.  They are hitting .236 as a team, 17^th overall in MLB with an OPS of .705, 14^th overall.  Chicago’s pitching staff is allowing 4.65 runs per nine innings, 24^th in Major League Baseball with opponents hitting .244, 19^th overall.

The Cubs offense has been better than expected, but Chicago’s pitching staff has struggled throughout the season; including Marcus Stroman who at times as electric stuff, but simply is not consistent.  St. Louis features two of the best right-handed hitters in the National League in Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado, I’m going with the Cardinals to win the second game of their series against the Cubs, 6-3.