St. Louis Cardinals at Miami Marlins 4/21/22 - MLB Picks & Predictions
The St. Louis Cardinals will close out a three-game series at loanDepot Park when they match up against the Miami Marlins. The Cardinals have won three of their last four, including a 5-1 win in the series opener, and lead the NL Central at 6-3 on the year. The Marlins took three of four games from the Phillies, but following the loss dropped to 4-6 on the year.
St. Louis has been one of the better offenses in baseball hitting .251 as a team, tied for sixth in the MLB, and scoring 5.33 runs per game, which is third in the MLB. Third baseman Nolan Arenado is swinging a hot bat, hitting .382 with 4 homeruns and 12 RBIs, and leads the team in all three categories. Second baseman Tommy Edman is also off to a strong start, hitting .366 with a double and a triple in 32 27 at-bats.
The young righty Jordan Hicks will get the start for the Cardinals, he had a strong two outings out of the bullpen throwing for scoreless innings allowing a hit and two walks, striking out five. It will be Hicks’ first start in the MLB, but he’s been a solid member of the bullpen over the last four years posting a 3.52 ERA in 120.1 innings dating back to 2018.
The Marlins offense has had ups and downs through the opening ten games but is 13th in the MLB in batting average hitting .239 and 17th in scoring offense with 4 runs per game. Jazz Chisholm Jr. is an exciting young player at second base, he’s hitting .292 with 2 homeruns and 10 RBIs, as is Jesus Sanchez. The 24-year-old right fielders is hitting .359 with 2 homeruns and 8 RBIs.
Pablo Lopez will get the start for the Marlins, he’s had two solid starts to open the year allowing a run on seven hits in 10 ⅓ innings while striking out eight and walking three. Lopez is just twenty-six but has had a strong career thus far posting a 3.94 ERA in 340.1 innings and a mainstay in the Marlins rotation since 2018. Lopez is coming off the best season of his career in 2021, where he threw 102.2 innings posted a 3.07 ERA, and a 4.4 K/BB ratio.
Betting Trends for vs
The Marlins have a strong core of young players and are looking to have a breakthrough season, attempting to make it back to the playoffs for just the second time since 2003. After a loss in the opening game of this series, I expect the Marlins to bounce back behind a strong start from Pablo Lopez and the offense to generate enough production against a young pitcher making his first start in the MLB. Final score prediction, Marlins win 5-4.