St. Louis Cardinals vs Chicago Cubs Prediction, 8/18/2020 MLB Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: St. Louis Cardinals vs Chicago Cubs

Date: Tuesday, August 18, 2020

Location: Wrigley Field in Chicago, IL

TV: MARQ/FSMW/FS1

Odds/Point Spread: Cardinals (+155) Cubs (-168)

Wrigley Field is the site where Kyle Schwarber and the Chicago Cubs (13-6, 1st in NL Central) will take on the St. Louis Cardinals (4-4, 3rd in NL Central) on Tuesday. The Cubs open this game at -168 while the Cardinals are coming in at +155. The total is set at 9. The expected starting pitchers are Daniel Ponce de Leon and Yu Darvish.

Key St. Louis Cardinals Injuries

8/16/2020 Lane Thomas CF Illness Expected to be out until at least Aug 23
8/16/2020 Ryan Helsley RP Illness Expected to be out until at least Aug 23
8/16/2020 Austin Dean LF Illness Expected to be out until at least Aug 23
8/14/2020 Edmundo Sosa 2B Illness Expected to be out until at least Aug 21
8/14/2020 Paul DeJong SS Illness Expected to be out until at least Aug 20
8/14/2020 Junior Fernandez RP Illness Expected to be out until at least Aug 21
8/14/2020 Rangel Ravelo DH Illness Expected to be out until at least Aug 24
8/14/2020 Yadier Molina C Illness Expected to be out until at least Aug 20
8/14/2020 Kodi Whitley RP Illness Expected to be out until at least Aug 21
8/11/2020 Miles Mikolas SP Forearm Out for the season
8/4/2020 Carlos Martinez SP Undisclosed Expected to be out until at least Aug 17
6/28/2020 John Brebbia RP Elbow Out for the season

Key Chicago Cubs Injuries

8/16/2020 Jose Quintana SP Thumb Expected to be out until at least Aug 21
8/16/2020 Tyler Chatwood SP Back Expected to be out until at least Aug 25
8/16/2020 Jason Heyward RF Back Probable for Aug 17
8/15/2020 Brad Wieck RP Hamstring Expected to be out until at least Aug 28
8/14/2020 James Norwood RP Shoulder Expected to be out until at least Aug 19
7/23/2020 Daniel Descalso 2B Ankle Expected to be out until at least Sep 5

Useful Pitching Statistics

The Cardinals have a 4-4 overall record this season. Ponce de Leon (1-5 win-loss record in his career) holds a FIP of 4.06 and he has gone up against 353 hitters in the majors. His earned run average is 3.49 (33 ER's allowed) and his WHIP is 1.221. He has allowed 62 hits (6.5 hits per 9 innings) and has 42 free passes. Ponce de Leon has thrown 85 innings and is sitting with 91 K's so far in his pro baseball career. The bullpen has an earned run average of 3.18 and they have given up 15 base hits on the year. Teams are hitting .143 against the bullpen and they've struck out 31 hitters and walked 6 batters. As a team, St. Louis allows 6.2 hits per nine innings while striking out 9 batters per nine innings. They are 10th in the league in team earned run average at 4.02. The Cardinals pitchers collectively have given up 45 base hits and 29 earned runs. They have allowed 11 home runs this season, ranking them 30th in the league. St. Louis as a pitching staff has walked 16 batters and struck out 65. They have walked 2.2 men per 9 innings while striking out 9 per 9. They have a team WHIP of 0.94 and their FIP as a unit is 4.17.

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Hitting Statistics

As a team St. Louis is hitting .231, good for 20th in the league. The Cardinals hold a .372 team slugging percentage and an on-base percentage of .298, which is good for 28th in baseball. They rank 27th in MLB with 7.1 hits per game. Paul Goldschmidt is hitting .333 with an on-base percentage of .394. He has 10 hits this season in 30 at bats with 3 runs batted in. He has a slugging percentage of .533 and an OPS+ of 157. Dexter Fowler is hitting .318 this year and he has an on-base percentage of .348. He has totaled 7 hits and he has driven in 4 men in 22 at bats. His OPS+ is 123 while his slugging percentage is at .455. The Cardinals have 57 hits, including 7 doubles and 8 home runs. St. Louis has walked 18 times so far this season and they have struck out 61 times as a unit. They have left 43 men on base and have a team OPS of .670. They score 3.88 runs per contest and have scored a total of 31 runs this year.

Useful Pitching Statistics

Darvish (66-54 record in his career) has a 3.53 earned run average while conceding 7.2 hits per nine innings. He has a strikeout to walk ratio of 3.42 and he has gone up against 4,445 hitters so far in his pro baseball career. During his MLB career, Darvish has given up 864 hits while accumulating 1,326 punchouts in 1,075 innings pitched. He has given up a total of 422 ER's while earning a WHIP of 1.165 and a FIP of 3.6. The bullpen has an earned run average of 5.58 and they have given up 54 base hits on the year. Teams are hitting .199 against the Cubs bullpen. Their relievers have struck out 62 batters and walked 34 opposing hitters. As a team, Chicago allows 7.3 hits per nine innings while striking out 8.4 batters per nine innings. They are 11th in the league in team earned run average at 4.03. The Cubs pitchers as a team have surrendered 139 base knocks and 77 earned runs this season. They have given up 20 home runs this year, which ranks 28th in Major League Baseball. Chicago as a staff has walked 54 hitters and struck out 160 batters. They give up a walk 2.8 times per 9 innings while they strike out 8.4 per 9. Their team WHIP is 1.12 while their FIP as a staff is 3.90.

Hitting Statistics

As a team, they are batting .236, good for 18th in the league. The Cubs hold a .411 team slugging percentage and an on-base percentage of .337, which is good for 5th in baseball. They rank 17th in MLB with 7.8 hits per contest. Kyle Schwarber comes into this matchup batting .238 with an OBP of .351. He has 15 hits this year along with 8 RBI in 63 AB's. He maintains a slugging percentage of .429 with an OPS+ of 113. Ian Happ is hitting .310 this season and he has an OBP of .437. He has collected 18 hits in 58 at bats while driving in 11 runs. He has an OPS+ of 173 and a slugging percentage of .569. The Cubs as a unit have 148 base hits, including 33 doubles and 25 homers. Chicago has walked 77 times this year and they have struck out on 203 occasions. They have had 133 men left on base and have an OPS of .748. They have scored 5.05 runs per game and totaled 96 runs this season.

Who will win tonight's Cardinals/Cubs MLB game against the spread?

Guy's Pick: Take the Cardinals (+155)

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