Phillies at Cardinals 5/17/18 - MLB Picks & Predictions

On Thursday, the Philadelphia Phillies (23-16, 2nd NL Central) visit the St. Louis Cardinals (22-17, 3rd NL Central) in the first of four games against their National League rivals.

On Tuesday, the Phillies first game of a two-game interleague series with Baltimore was rained out. The two play on Wednesday prior to the Phillies heading to St. Louis. The Phillies beat the Mets 4-2 on Saturday but their Sunday game was rained out as well.

St. Louis lost its third straight on Tuesday falling to the Minnesota Twins 4-1 and will face the Twins on Wednesday prior to hosting the Phillies. St. Louis has now lost five of its last seven games played, but remains just one game behind Milwaukee in second place in the NL Central. Odubel Herrera leads the Phillies with a .360 batting average and team high 50 hits. Maikel Franco has the team lead in home runs with seven and RBIs with 28. Philadelphia has a team batting average of .242, while opposing hitters are averaging .234 at the plate against Phillies pitching. On Thursday, the Phillies will send Vince Velasquez to the mound. The right-hander this season is 3-4 with an ERA of 5.05, 50 Ks and 14 BBs.

Tommy Pham leads the Cardinals with a .308 batting average and .420 OBP. Jose Martinez has the team lead in hits with 40 and RBIs with 22. Paul DeJong has eight home runs to lead the team. St. Louis has a team batting average of .226 while opposing hitters are averaging .242 at the plate against Cardinals pitching. St Louis will send Luke Weaver to the mound on Thursday. The right-hander on the season is 3-2 with an ERA of 4.91, 36 Ks and 16 BBs.