St. Louis Cardinals vs Chicago Cubs Prediction, 9/4/2020 MLB Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: St. Louis Cardinals vs Chicago Cubs

Date: Friday, September 4, 2020

Location: Wrigley Field in Chicago, IL

TV: MARQ/FSMW

Odds/Point Spread: Cardinals (+120) Cubs (-140)

Kyle Schwarber and the Chicago Cubs (22-14, 1st in NL Central) host the St. Louis Cardinals (14-14, 2nd in NL Central) at Wrigley Field on Friday. The Cubs open this matchup at -140 while the Cardinals are coming in at +120. The over/under opens at 9. The starting pitchers will be Jack Flaherty and Yu Darvish.

Key St. Louis Cardinals Injuries

9/3/2020 Genesis Cabrera RP Finger Expected to be out until at least Sep 4
9/2/2020 Carlos Martinez SP Not Injury Related Expected to be out until at least Sep 8
9/2/2020 Dexter Fowler RF Not Injury Related Expected to be out until at least Sep 16
9/1/2020 Matt Wieters C Toe Expected to be out until at least Sep 4
8/31/2020 Ricardo Sanchez RP Elbow Out for the season
8/27/2020 Andrew Miller RP Shoulder Expected to be out until at least Sep 4
8/26/2020 Austin Dean LF Not Injury Related Expected to be out until at least Sep 3
8/26/2020 Kodi Whitley RP Elbow Expected to be out until at least Sep 10
8/11/2020 Miles Mikolas SP Forearm Out for the season
6/28/2020 John Brebbia RP Elbow Out for the season

Key Chicago Cubs Injuries

9/3/2020 Ian Happ CF Forehead Expected to be out until at least Sep 4
9/3/2020 Andrew Chafin RP Finger Expected to be out until at least Sep 4
9/2/2020 Tyler Chatwood SP Forearm Expected to be out until at least Sep 21
9/2/2020 Jose Quintana RP Lat Expected to be out until at least Sep 10
8/23/2020 James Norwood RP Shoulder Expected to be out until at least Sep 18
8/18/2020 Brad Wieck RP Hamstring Expected to be out until at least Sep 15
7/23/2020 Daniel Descalso 2B Ankle Expected to be out until at least Sep 5

Useful Pitching Statistics

The Cardinals have a 14-14 overall record this season. Flaherty (21-19 win-loss mark in his career) has earned a FIP of 3.74 while going up against 1,554 opposing batters in the major leagues. His earned run average is 3.14 (135 earned runs allowed) and he has a WHIP of 1.048. He has given up 277 hits (6.5 hits per nine innings) and has 128 free passes. Flaherty has thrown 386 innings and has racked up 450 strikeouts during his pro baseball career. The bullpen has an earned run average of 4.09 and they have given up 77 base hits on the year. Teams are hitting .179 against the bullpen and they've struck out 102 hitters and walked 53 batters. As a team, St. Louis allows 6.3 hits per nine innings while striking out 8.1 batters per nine innings. They are 4th in the league in team earned run average at 3.56. The Cardinals pitchers collectively have given up 166 base hits and 93 earned runs. They have allowed 32 home runs this season, ranking them 30th in the league. St. Louis as a pitching staff has walked 101 batters and struck out 212. They have walked 3.9 men per 9 innings while striking out 8.1 per 9. They have a team WHIP of 1.14 and their FIP as a unit is 4.56.

Related: Get MLB tips & picks on all of today's games

Hitting Statistics

As a team St. Louis is hitting .250, good for 12th in the league. The Cardinals hold a .393 team slugging percentage and an on-base percentage of .347, which is good for 2nd in baseball. They rank 17th in MLB with 7.8 hits per game. Tommy Edman is hitting .273 with an on-base percentage of .339. He has 27 hits this season in 99 at bats with 12 runs batted in. He has a slugging percentage of .374 and an OPS+ of 96. Matt Carpenter is hitting .175 this year and he has an on-base percentage of .340. He has totaled 14 hits and he has driven in 13 men in 80 at bats. His OPS+ is 66 while his slugging percentage is at .250. The Cardinals have 219 hits, including 42 doubles and 25 home runs. St. Louis has walked 112 times so far this season and they have struck out 209 times as a unit. They have left 191 men on base and have a team OPS of .740. They score 4.5 runs per contest and have scored a total of 126 runs this year.

Useful Pitching Statistics

Darvish (69-54 career mark) holds a 3.49 earned run average and has allowed 7.3 hits per 9 innings. His strikeout to walk ratio is 3.45 and he has faced 4,524 opposing batters in his pro baseball career. In his MLB career, Darvish has conceded 885 hits while he has earned 1,351 punchouts in 1,094 innings pitched. He has allowed a total of 424 ER's while earning a WHIP of 1.167 and a FIP of 3.5. The bullpen has an earned run average of 5.18 and they have given up 103 base hits on the year. Teams are hitting .195 against the Cubs bullpen. Their relievers have struck out 143 batters and walked 69 opposing hitters. As a team, Chicago allows 8.3 hits per nine innings while striking out 9.1 batters per nine innings. They are 14th in the league in team earned run average at 4.42. The Cubs pitchers as a team have surrendered 286 base knocks and 153 earned runs this season. They have given up 49 home runs this year, which ranks 12th in Major League Baseball. Chicago as a staff has walked 114 hitters and struck out 315 batters. They give up a walk 3.3 times per 9 innings while they strike out 9.1 per 9. Their team WHIP is 1.28 while their FIP as a staff is 4.38.

Hitting Statistics

As a team, they are batting .228, good for 25th in the league. The Cubs hold a .423 team slugging percentage and an on-base percentage of .329, which is good for 11th in baseball. They rank 25th in MLB with 7.3 hits per contest. Kyle Schwarber comes into this matchup batting .227 with an OBP of .328. He has 27 hits this year along with 21 RBI in 119 AB's. He maintains a slugging percentage of .513 with an OPS+ of 122. Willson Contreras is hitting .216 this season and he has an OBP of .319. He has collected 25 hits in 116 at bats while driving in 13 runs. He has an OPS+ of 87 and a slugging percentage of .379. The Cubs as a unit have 263 base hits, including 54 doubles and 54 homers. Chicago has walked 149 times this year and they have struck out on 350 occasions. They have had 242 men left on base and have an OPS of .752. They have scored 4.92 runs per game and totaled 177 runs this season.

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

Guy's Pick: Take the Cubs (-140)

Get $60 worth of FREE premium member picks. No Obligation. No Salesman. No Credit Card. Fast Sign up with Instant Access Click Here