St. Louis Cardinals at San Diego Padres 5/15/21 - MLB Picks & Predictions

The St. Louis Cardinals play the second game of a three-game series on the road Saturday against the San Diego Padres. St Louis is 23-15 following 2-0 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers on Thursday. Jack Flaherty earned his major league-leading seventh win. St Louis is first in the National League Central with a three-game lead over the Brewers. 

Dylan Carlson is batting .285 to lead St Louis and the left fielder has a team high .364 on-base percentage. Left fielder Tyler O'Neill is the leader in home runs with seven, while third baseman Nolan Arenado is the leader in RBIs with 24 and infielder Tommy Edman is the leader in hits with 43. On Saturday, St Louis will send Adam Wainwright to the mound. The right-hander is 2-3 with an ERA of 3.80, 42 Ks and 12 BBs.

San Diego is 21-17 following a 3-2 loss to the Colorado Rockies on Wednesday. The Padres were off on Thursday prior to opening the series against St Louis on Friday. San Diego was going through major covid issues as several players are out under protocol including Wil Myers, Fernando Tatis Jr and Eric Hosmer. San Diego is second in the National League West 2 ½ games behind first place San Francisco.

The leading active hitter for San Diego is Jake Cronenworth with a batting average of .277. Third baseman Manny Machado is the leader in RBIs with 22 and the leading active home run hitter is Machado with five. On Saturday, the San Diego Padres will send Chris Paddack to the mound. The right-hander is 1-3 with an ERA of 4.78, 26 Ks and 8 BBs.