Pittsburgh Pirates vs St. Louis Cardinals Prediction, 4/16/2023 MLB Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Pittsburgh Pirates vs St. Louis Cardinals

Date: Sunday, April 16, 2023

Location: Busch Stadium in St. Louis, MO

TV: Bally Sports Midwest

Odds/Point Spread: Pittsburgh (+170) St. Louis (-200)

The St. Louis Cardinals (6-8) will go up against the Pittsburgh Pirates (8-6) at Busch Stadium on Sunday. The line on this contest has Pittsburgh at +170 and St. Louis is priced at -200. The over/under is 8.5. The expected starting pitchers will be Mitch Keller and Miles Mikolas.

As a unit, the Pittsburgh Pirates are earning 4.0 runs per contest, which ranks them 26th in baseball. They have a total of 56 runs while holding a team OBP of .312. The Pirates have accrued 25 doubles as a squad and have hit 17 balls out of the stadium. They have accrued 53 runs batted in and 106 base knocks on the season, and their team batting average comes in at .232. Pittsburgh owns a slugging percentage of .408 and have been called out on strikes 115 times, while taking a walk on 52 occasions.

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The Pirates have an ERA of 4.46 so far this season (13th in baseball), and their staff has struck out 114 hitters. Pirates pitchers have surrendered 17 home runs and also 63 runs in total (12th in the league). Their pitching staff has walked 51 players from the other team and their FIP comes in at 4.61 as a team for the year. Pittsburgh has surrendered 122 hits (8.9 per 9 innings) as well as 61 earned runs. They have earned a strikeout to walk ratio of 2.24 and the pitching staff has a team WHIP of 1.41.

Pirates relief pitchers have stepped onto the hill with runners on 11 times in addition to having 12 appearances in high leverage situations. The bullpen have a total of 12 holds this season (7th in MLB). The Pirates relief pitchers have a save rate of 85.7% and has come into the game in 20 save situations. They have tallied 6 saves so far this year and have missed out on 1 out of their 7 save opportunities. The relief pitchers have inherited 18 base runners on the year with 16.7% of them ended up scoring. The Pirates have dispatched 43 relief pitchers to the hill this season.

The Pirates have transformed 69.4% of baseballs in play into outs out of 1,107 innings, which has them ranked 16th in MLB. The Pittsburgh Pirates have accumulated 369 putouts for the season, as well as 108 assists and 6 errors. Their fielding percentage is at .988 which is 13th in pro baseball, and they have twisted 8 double plays.

Keller (13-29 career win-loss record) has earned a FIP of 4.12 while facing 1,546 opposing batters in the major leagues. He has conceded 390 hits (10.1 hits per nine innings) with 151 walks. His ERA is 4.93 (190 ER's allowed) and his WHIP is 1.559. Keller has thrown 347 frames and has 333 punch outs so far in his pro baseball career.

The Cardinals have a slugging percentage of .424 and they tally 4.21 runs per outing (23rd in baseball). They have recorded 22 doubles, while taking a walk 49 times as well as putting up 59 runs. St. Louis has 16 home runs for the season as well as 58 RBIs. They have struck out on 115 instances (20th in baseball) and have earned a total of 134 hits. The St. Louis Cardinals have an on-base percentage of .344 in addition to a batting average of .276 this season.

The Cardinals are sitting with a team WHIP of 1.512 in addition to having a FIP of 4.18 as a pitching staff over the course of the season. Their strikeout to walk ratio comes in at 9.20 (126 strikeouts against 48 bases on balls). They come in at 29th in the league as a pitching staff in total hits allowed with 138. They have surrendered 15 long balls and they concede 4.68 runs per 9 innings (16th in the league). The St. Louis pitching staff have allowed 64 runs this year while having an ERA of 4.54 (62 earned runs conceded).

St. Louis relief pitchers have an inherited score rate of 20.8% out of their 24 inherited base runners. Their relievers have stepped onto the hill 12 times in high leverage situations and on 15 occasions with runners on. With 14 save situations, the Cardinals have accumulated 7 holds and also 3 blown saves. They are currently ranked 20th in MLB holding a save percentage of 57.1%, and they have dispatched 46 relief pitchers onto the diamond on the campaign. St. Louis has had relief pitchers take the mound in 7 save opportunities and they have come away with 4 saves.

The St. Louis Cardinals have gotten 17 double plays and own a fielding percentage of .992 (4th in baseball). The Cardinals have 140 assists, 4 errors and have a total of 369 putouts on the season. In 1,107 innings on the diamond, the Cardinals have accumulated a efficiency on defense of 64.0% (29th in baseball).

Mikolas (45-41 record in his career) holds a 3.82 earned run average and has given up 8.8 hits per nine innings. His K/BB ratio is 3.72 and he has faced 3,045 batters so far in his MLB career. He has allowed a total of 313 ER's while earning a WHIP of 1.173 and having a FIP of 4.0. In his MLB career, Mikolas has given up 717 hits while tallying 551 K's in 737 innings pitched.

Who will win tonight's MLB game against the spread or moneyline?

Tony Sink's Pick: Take St. Louis (-200)

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