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How about a little baseball from the Gateway to the West? The Arizona Diamondbacks and the St. Louis Cardinals will go head-to-head at Busch Stadium in a late April National League showdown! Check out our MLB odds series, where our Diamondbacks-Cardinals prediction and pick will be revealed.
After a surprising series win versus arch division rivals in the Los Angeles Dodgers, the D-Backs are eager to carry their winning attitude to the midwest versus the Cardinals. Getting the start this evening for Arizona will be Humberto Castellanos and his 3.00 ERA in four starts on the season.
The Cardinals are coming off a feisty series finale versus the Mets that saw the benches clear from both squads after a chin-high pitch was thrown at superstar Nolan Arenado. Despite the distraction, St. Louis was able to avoid the sweep against New York in a 10-5 victory. Looking to help his team get back-to-back wins will be former 16 game-winner in RHP Dakota Hudson, who is making a comeback from Tommy John Surgery in late 2020.
Courtesy of FanDuel, here are the Diamondbacks-Cardinals MLB odds:
MLB odds: Diamondbacks-Cardinals Odds
Arizona Diamondbacks: +1.5 (-152)
St. Louis Cardinals: -1.5 (+126)
Over: 7.5 (+102)
Under: 7.5 (-124)
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Why The Diamondbacks Could Cover the Spread
Arizona looked simply outmanned in a 4-0 shutout loss at home against the Dodgers, but the D-Backs rebounded nicely and took the next two over LA, which guaranteed their first series win of the season. In the previous two seasons versus Los Angeles, the D-Backs went 5-24 in 29 contests. The pair of victories over a talented squad like the Dodgers should only give Arizona the confidence they need to turn their season around in the first month of the 2022 campaign.
The Diamondbacks travel to St. Louis to play yet another NL playoff hopeful, and in order to cover the spread on Thursday night, Arizona will have to find a way to continue their stretch of stellar pitching, especially with the bats remaining slightly cold through 19 games.
Pitching has definitely been Arizona's strong suit to begin the campaign, as the D-Backs have the tenth best ERA in the majors at 3.25. While the staff only has three quality starts to their name, the collective effort from the starters and bullpen has been everything the Diamondbacks could ask for.
Introducing the downfall of this D-Backs team, which has been offensively at the plate. With a combined league-worst .178 batting average, Arizona is putting way too much pressure on the pitching each game to win contests consistently and frequently. It is impossible for the D-Backs to keep this kind of play-up and expect it to be a winning formula, let alone a recipe for success when covering the spread against foes.
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However, the record against the spread has begged to differ, as they have racked up a 13-8 mark thus far.
Why The Cardinals Could Cover the Spread
After tempers flared and multiple players were ejected yesterday versus the Mets, the Cardinals are excited for an opportunity to get back to level-headiness against a Diamondbacks bunch that they are clearly better than on paper. At first glance, it appears that Arizona's hitting won't have much of a chance against a Cardinal's pitching staff that has the seventh-best ERA in all of baseball with a 3.14 mark.
This appears to serve as the perfect game for Dakota Hudson to continue to shake the rust off and get back on track after a brutal Tommy John injury that has kept him shelved for the better part of the last year and a half. Prior to the injury, Hudson showed much promise in being an integral piece within St. Louis starting pitching staff during his most productive year in 2019 when he compiled a 16-7 record with a 3.35 ERA.
In his one career start versus the D-Backs, Hudson fired six innings pitched and only allowed two runs.
Hudson serves as a pitcher that excels at generating ground balls, as the 27-year-old from Tennessee had the highest ground ball rate in the majors while also possessing the lowest fly-ball rate in the league. Hudson should keep Arizona off the scoreboard, for the most part, this evening, giving the ‘Cards a mighty shot at covering the spread.
At the dish, St. Louis has been pretty average, which might be a direct result of their ordinary 10-7 overall record. While the Cardinals rank 11th in batting average, they have only had 72 runs cross the plate, only the 16th best mark in the majors.
As Arenado remains the most deadly hitter to opposing pitching, be on the lookout for second-baseman Tommy Edman, who is the only other St. Louis hitter that is slashing at least .300. Additionally, Edman has sneaky pop with three home runs on the season.
Final Diamondbacks-Cardinals Prediction & Pick
Both clubs are coming off wins, and while anything can happen in baseball, the Diamondbacks simply put have a lesser roster that should give the Cardinals the edge in this one.
Final Diamondbacks-Cardinals Prediction & Pick: Cardinals -1.5 (+126)
