Cardinals vs. Phillies Sunday Night Baseball Preview and Free Pick (Archive)
The St. Louis Cardinals and Philadelphia Phillies will play a rubber match of a three-game series in tonight’s ESPN Sunday Night Baseball game. Both teams will send out their ace pitchers. Which pitcher will have a better performance to lead his team to victory?
Let’s see what the MLB odds tell us at the top-rated sportsbooks! Here are our picks and predictions for Sunday Night’s game between the Cardinals and Phillies.
St. Louis Cardinals vs. Philadelphia Phillies
Sunday, July 03, 2022 – 07:08 PM EDT at Citizens Bank Park
Cardinals vs. Phillies: Series Highlights
- The Cardinals hit 4 home runs back-to-back-to-back-to-back in the first inning against the Phillies last night.
- Even after scoring 5 runs in the first inning, the Cardinals ended up only winning the game 7-6, thanks to a run scored in the ninth inning to seal the deal.
- The Phillies won the first game of the series and now the Cardinals stole the second game.
Who Is Pitching for the Phillies Today?
Zack Wheeler will take the mound for the Phillies tonight.
Wheeler, a right-handed pitcher, has a 6-4 record with a 2.89 ERA on the season. In the last 30 days, Wheeler has been right on par, holding a 2.93 xFIP along with 30.3% of strikeouts.
The walks have been limited and the ground balls have been high for Wheeler, who is still one of the best pitchers in the league.
Who Is Pitching for the Cardinals Today?
Meanwhile, Adam Wainwright will get the call for the Cardinals.
Wainwright is 6-5 with a 3.07 ERA on the year. However, the right-hander has had a 4.10 xFIP in the last 30 days with just 20.7% of strikeouts.
Wainwright has also allowed 33.3% of line drives in that same time frame while giving up a BABIP of .371.
Phillies Lineup Analysis
- The Phillies have a lot of power against right-handed pitching.
- In the last 30 days, the Phillies have a .230 ISO and wOBA of .328 against righties.
- Kyle Schwarber, Rhys Hoskins, and Darick Hall have stepped up in Bryce Harper’s absence.
- Each of these three batters is red hot at the plate when facing righties.
- Ultimately, the Phillies have more power and higher inflated numbers against righties in the last 30 days coming into this game.
Cardianals Lineup Analysis
- The Cardinals have a few bats that are hitting at a consistent rate against righties as well.
- Paul Goldschmidt is likely the leading candidate for the NL MVP this season.
- Goldschmidt has a .308 ISO with a wOBA of .424 in the last 30 days against righties.
- Juan Yepez also has a .315 ISO with a wOBA of .364 against righties.
Cardinals vs. Phillies: Game Prediction
Cardinals Lineup Against Zack Wheeler
Wheeler has been the better pitcher. I’d expect him to shine at home against a Cardinals lineup that only has a BABIP of .284 in the last 30 days against righties.
The Cardinals have some solid power in the middle of their order. Wheeler has really only struggled a little bit with lefties.
The only lefty with an ISO above .200 would be Lars Nootbar. But he also has a wOBA of .281 with 25.6% of strikeouts.
Phillies Lineup Against Adam Wainwright
Meanwhile, Wainwright has really struggled against lefties, allowing a wOBA of .371 and ISO of .225 in the last 30 days against them.
Schwarber and Hall are both left-handed power bats. There’s also Didi Gregorius, who is a lefty with some power as well. The Phillies should be able to hit for power against Wainwright. A couple of runs will really be all they’ll need with Wheeler on the mound.
Philadelphia has hit 44.1% of ground balls in the last 30 days. Seven of the nine batters are hitting at least 44.2% of grounders against righties. But Wainwright has only earned 40.4% of ground balls in the last 30 days. More line drives should be in play for the Phillies here.
MLB Betting Pick for Today
For my MLB picks of the Day, I’ll ride with the Phillies on the moneyline at -155. It’s a bit juiced, but if you want a lower number for the Phillies to win, you can always look at the first 5 runline.
I’m a Mets fan, but I’ve got to roll with the Phillies. I’m all about making money here. Nothing will stop me from doing that.
Wheeler has been exponentially better than Wainwright, despite what the records and ERA say. Plus, the Phillies have some serious power in their lineup against Wainwright while the Cardinals lack left-handers that can do what the Phillies can do.
MLB Pick: Phillies ML (-155) at BetOnline (visit our BetOnline Review)
*The line and/or odds on picks in this article might have moved since the content was commissioned. For updated line movements, visit BMR’s free betting odds product.