San Diego Padres vs St. Louis Cardinals Prediction, 9/17/2021 MLB Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: San Diego Padres vs St. Louis Cardinals

Date: Friday, September 17, 2021

Location: Busch Stadium in St. Louis, MO

TV: Bally Sports Midwest

Odds/Point Spread: San Diego (-120) St. Louis (-111)

Vince Velasquez and the San Diego Padres (75-70, 3rd in NL West) go to Busch Stadium on Friday where they'll take on the St. Louis Cardinals (76-69, 2nd in NL Central). The moneyline on this game has the Padres priced at -120 and the Cardinals are at -111. The over/under opens at 7.5. The starting pitchers will be Vince Velasquez and Miles Mikolas.

The Padres have compiled 236 doubles as a squad and have knocked 162 balls out of the park. San Diego has a slugging rate of .398 and have been called out on strikes 1,195 times, while taking a walk on 535 occasions. As a squad, the San Diego Padres are recording 4.5 runs per contest, which has them at 14th in the league. They have recorded 624 runs batted in in addition to 1,153 hits on the year, while their team batting average is at .240. They have notched a total of 656 runs scored and have an on-base percentage of .321.

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The Padres have a team ERA of 3.88 for the season (10th in MLB), and their staff has rung up 1,368 hitters. Their strikeout to walk ratio sits at 3.00 and the pitching staff has a collective WHIP of 1.23. Padres pitchers have allowed 179 long balls and also 605 runs in total (10th in MLB). They have walked 456 opposing players and their FIP sits at 4.10 as a squad on the year.

The Padres have sent 552 relief pitchers to the mound so far this year. The bullpen pitchers have inherited 147 base runners this year and 32.7% of them crossed home plate. They have tallied 41 saves so far this year and have not converted 21 of their 62 chances to get a save. The Padres relievers have recorded a save percentage of 66.1% and has come into the game in 149 save situations. The relief pitchers have recorded 85 holds on the year (5th in the league). Padres pitchers have gone to the mound with runners on base 103 times in addition to having 132 appearances in high leverage situations.

The San Diego Padres have notched a total of 3,852 putouts this season, as well as 1,283 assists and 75 errors. Their fielding rate sits at .986 which has them sitting 11th in baseball, and have 1,003 double plays. The Padres have converted 70.0% of balls hit into play into outs out of their 11,556 innings on the field, which ranks them 9th in professional baseball.

Velasquez has taken the mound for 638 innings and has tallied 700 strikeouts so far in his pro baseball career. Velasquez (31-41 win-loss mark in his career) has earned a FIP of 4.49 and he has gone up against 2,758 opposing hitters in the majors. His earned run average is 4.88 (346 earned runs allowed) and he has a career WHIP of 1.390. He has allowed 623 hits (8.8 hits per nine innings) and has 264 walks.

St. Louis has knocked in 167 HRs on the year as well as 588 runs batted in. They have hit 231 two-baggers, while getting a free base 433 times as well as putting up 609 runs. The St. Louis Cardinals have an on-base percentage of .312 in addition to a batting average of .241 this year. The Cardinals have a slugging percentage of .401 and they are scoring 4.20 runs per contest (24th in the league). They have been called out on strikes on 1,200 occasions (24th in the league) and have earned a total of 1,159 base knocks.

The Cardinals are sitting with a team WHIP of 1.308 in addition to having a FIP of 4.33 as a pitching staff on the year. They currently have a strikeout to walk ratio of 1.98 (1,097 strikeouts against 554 walks). They have a ranking of 7th in MLB as a staff in total hits relinquished with 1,107. They have yielded 136 home runs and they surrender 4.35 runs per 9 innings (13th in the league). The St. Louis pitching staff have given up 614 runs this year while having a team ERA of 4.03 (569 earned runs yielded).

St. Louis has called on relief pitchers to enter the game in 61 save chances and they have walked away with 42 saves. They sit at 3rd in baseball with a save rate of 68.9%, and they have dispatched 498 relief pitchers to the mound so far this year. Their relief pitchers have stepped onto the mound 142 times in high leverage situations and also on 153 occasions with runners on base. St. Louis relief pitchers have an inherited score rate of 36.5% out of 255 inherited runners. Sitting with 154 save situations, the Cardinals have earned 91 holds and 19 blown saves.

The St. Louis Cardinals have turned 118 double plays and have notched a fielding percentage of .985 (17th in the majors). The Cardinals have 1,351 assists, 81 errors and have a total of 3,810 putouts this year. In 11,430 innings on the field, the Cardinals have a defensive efficiency of 71.3% (3rd in pro baseball).

During his career, Mikolas has allowed 504 base knocks while totaling 370 K's in 502 innings. Mikolas (31-26 win-loss record in his career) has earned a 3.91 earned run average while allowing 9.0 hits per 9 innings. He has conceded 218 ER's while holding a WHIP of 1.208 and a FIP of 4.0. He has a strikeout to walk ratio of 3.59 and he has gone up against 2,094 opposing hitters in his MLB career.

Who will win tonight's MLB game ATS?

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take San Diego (-120)

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