St. Louis Cardinals vs Cleveland Guardians Prediction, 5/26/2023 MLB Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: St. Louis Cardinals vs Cleveland Guardians

Date: Friday, May 26, 2023

Location: Progressive Field in Cleveland, OH

TV: Bally Sports Great Lakes

Odds/Point Spread: St. Louis (-120) Cleveland (+100)

Progressive Field is the site where the Cleveland Guardians (21-28) will meet the St. Louis Cardinals (22-29) on Friday. The odds on this game have St. Louis at -120 while Cleveland is priced at +100. The total has been set at 9. The starting pitchers are Matthew Liberatore and Tanner Bibee.

St. Louis has a slugging rate of .442 and have been rung up 422 times, while taking a walk on 185 occasions. They have accumulated 253 runs batted in as well as 462 base knocks this year, and their team batting average sits at .262. The Cardinals have tallied 91 two-baggers as a team and have hit 72 balls out of the stadium. They have racked up 261 runs scored and hold an OBP of .335. As a unit, the St. Louis Cardinals are scoring 5.1 runs per game, which has them at 8th in MLB.

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The Cardinals are sitting with a team earned run average of 4.46 on the year (21st in the league), and the staff has struck out 439 hitters. Cardinals pitchers have allowed 56 long balls and also 248 runs in total (24th in baseball). Their pitching staff has walked 185 players from the other team and their FIP comes in at 4.30 as a unit this season. St. Louis has allowed 472 base hits (9.4 per 9 innings) as well as 223 earned runs. They have earned a strikeout to walk ratio of 2.37 and their pitching staff has recorded a WHIP of 1.46.

The Cardinals relief pitchers have recorded a save percentage of 47.6% and has entered the game in 44 save situations. The bullpen pitchers have inherited 100 base runners for the season with 31.0% of them earned a run for their team. Cardinals pitchers have entered the contest with opponents on base 61 times as well as having 55 appearances in high leverage situations. The Cardinals have sent 158 relief pitchers to the hill for the year. The relief pitchers have recorded 23 holds this year (25th in the league). They have 10 saves on the campaign and have missed out on 11 of 21 save opportunities.

The Cardinals have transformed 66.4% of balls in play into outs out of their 4,050 innings, which has them ranked 29th in the majors. The St. Louis Cardinals have accumulated 1,350 putouts this season, as well as 485 assists and 21 errors. Their fielding percentage is currently at .989 which ranks 7th in MLB, and have a total of 50 double plays.

Liberatore (3-2 career record) has earned a FIP of 4.78 while he has faced 188 batters in the major leagues. He has given up 46 base hits (10.2 hits per nine innings) with 22 walks. His earned run average is 5.53 (25 earned runs allowed) and his WHIP is 1.672. Liberatore has thrown 40 innings and has totaled 35 strikeouts during his MLB career.

Cleveland has hit 30 long balls for the year as well as 155 RBIs. They have recorded 77 doubles, while taking a walk 158 times as well as earning 169 runs. The Cleveland Guardians have recorded a team on-base percentage of .297 and a team batting average of .225 this season. The Guardians hold a team slugging % of .340 and they score 3.45 runs per game (30th in MLB). They have struck out on 351 instances (29th in the league) and have tallied 363 hits.

The Cleveland pitching staff have allowed 208 runs on the campaign while having a team ERA of 3.86 (188 earned runs allowed). They have allowed 50 long balls and they allow 4.27 runs per 9 innings (10th in baseball). The Guardians are sitting with a team WHIP of 1.264 in addition to having a FIP of 4.07 as a squad so far this year. They have earned a strikeout to walk ratio of 7.60 (371 strikeouts vs 132 free passes). They come in at 21st in the league as a pitching staff in total hits surrendered with 422.

Cleveland has called on bullpen pitchers to take the mound in 31 save opportunities and they have converted 19 saves. They sit at 17th in baseball holding a save rate of 61.3%, and they have sent 153 bullpen pitchers to the mound over the course of the season. Their bullpen pitchers have stepped onto the mound 66 times in high leverage situations and on 42 occasions with runners on. Cleveland relievers have an inherited score rate of 24.5% out of their 53 inherited runners. With 56 save situations, the Guardians have accrued 25 holds and also 12 blown saves.

The Cleveland Guardians have turned 33 double plays and hold a fielding percentage of .985 (19th in professional baseball). The Guardians have recorded 461 assists, 27 errors and have notched a total of 1,316 putouts for the season. Out of their 3,948 innings on the diamond, the Guardians are sitting with a defensive efficiency of 69.6% (14th in pro baseball).

In his MLB career, Bibee has allowed 26 hits while he has earned 25 K's in 28 frames. Bibee (1-1 career win-loss mark) has earned a 3.18 ERA while giving up 8.3 hits per nine innings. He has given up a total of 10 earned runs while holding a WHIP of 1.200 and a FIP of 3.0. His K/BB ratio is 3.13 and he has gone up against 115 opposing batters in his pro baseball career.

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

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Cleveland (+100)

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