St. Louis Cardinals vs San Diego Padres Prediction, 9/23/2023 MLB Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: St. Louis Cardinals vs San Diego Padres

Date: Saturday, September 23, 2023

Location: Petco Park in San Diego, CA

TV: Bally Sports San Diego

Odds/Point Spread: St. Louis (+124) San Diego (-148)

Petco Park is where the San Diego Padres (75-78) will meet the St. Louis Cardinals (67-86) on Saturday. The odds on this game have the Cardinals at +124 while the Padres are sitting at -148. The over/under is set at 9. The pitchers taking the mound will be Jake Woodford and Nick Martínez.

As a team, the St. Louis Cardinals are knocking in 4.5 runs per game, which has them at 19th in baseball. They have accumulated 683 runs while having a team on-base percentage of .326. The Cardinals have earned 245 doubles as a unit and have knocked 204 baseballs out of the park. They have earned 662 RBI's and 1,309 hits so far this year, and their team batting average sits at .251. St. Louis owns a slugging percentage of .419 and have struck out 1,254 times, while taking a walk on 531 occasions.

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Their K/BB ratio is 2.30 and the pitching staff sits with a WHIP of 1.45. Cardinals pitchers have conceded 166 long balls and 776 runs in total (24th in MLB). St. Louis has surrendered 1,454 hits (9.7 per 9 innings) in addition to 714 earned runs. The Cardinals have a team earned run average of 4.76 so far this season (25th in baseball), and their staff has rung up 1,151 hitters. They have walked 501 players from the other team and their FIP is 4.40 as a squad so far this year.

Cardinals bullpen pitchers have gone to the mound with runners on base 162 times as well as having 156 appearances in high leverage situations. The bullpen are sitting with 85 holds on the campaign (12th in the league). The Cardinals bullpen have earned a save rate of 55.7% and has come into the game in 148 save situations. They have earned 34 saves on the year and have missed out on 27 of their 61 save opportunities. The bullpen pitchers have inherited 258 runners over the course of the season with 31.8% of those runners ended up crossing the plate. The Cardinals have dispatched 456 relief pitchers to the mound on the year.

The St. Louis Cardinals have a tally of 4,048 putouts so far this season, as well as 1,508 assists and 61 errors. Their fielding percentage is holding at .989 which has them ranked 3rd in pro baseball, and they have twisted 141 double plays. The Cardinals have turned 67.1% of balls in play into outs out of 12,144 innings on the diamond, which has them ranked 29th in pro baseball.

Woodford (10-6 career record) holds a FIP of 4.73 and he has faced 759 opposing hitters during his time in the major leagues. He has surrendered 180 base knocks (9.0 hits per 9 innings) and has 60 free passes. His ERA is 4.01 (80 ER's allowed) and he has a WHIP of 1.338. Woodford has pitched in 179 innings and has earned 118 punch outs in his MLB career.

The Padres hold a slugging percentage of .414 and they are earning 4.66 runs per outing (14th in MLB). They have recorded 256 two-baggers, while taking a walk 616 times and scoring 713 runs. San Diego has compiled 198 home runs on the season to go along with 681 runs batted in. They have been called out on strikes on 1,239 occasions (23rd in baseball) and have 1,230 base hits. The San Diego Padres hold a team OBP of .328 in addition to a team batting average of .242 this year.

The Padres have a team WHIP of 1.280 and have a FIP of 4.18 as a team so far this year. Their K/BB ratio comes in at 9.00 (1,360 strikeouts against 522 free passes). They sit at 4th in MLB as a pitching staff in total hits allowed with 1,214. They have conceded 168 dingers and they allow 4.19 runs per 9 innings (6th in baseball). The San Diego pitching staff have given up 631 runs so far this year while having an ERA of 3.87 (583 earned runs relinquished).

Sitting with 136 save situations, the Padres have earned 77 holds in addition to 25 blown saves. San Diego has called on relievers to step onto the mound in 58 save chances and they have walked away with 33 saves. Their relief pitchers have stepped onto the mound 138 times in high leverage situations and also on 104 occasions with runners on. San Diego relief pitchers hold an inherited score rate of 42.2% out of 161 inherited runners. They are ranked 23rd in MLB with a save rate of 56.9%, and they have sent 477 relievers to the hill so far this season.

The San Diego Padres have gotten 124 double plays and hold a fielding percentage of .987 (7th in MLB). The Padres have 1,353 assists, 71 errors and are sitting with 4,068 putouts on the season. In 12,204 innings played, the Padres have a defensive efficiency of 69.8% (9th in MLB).

Martinez (26-38 mark in his career) holds a 4.38 earned run average while giving up 9.3 hits per nine innings. His strikeout to walk ratio is 1.91 and he has faced 2,699 batters so far in his career. He has given up a total of 303 ER's while holding a WHIP of 1.395 and a FIP of 5.0. During his pro baseball career, Martinez has surrendered 645 hits while he has accumulated 427 punch outs in 623 innings.

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

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take San Diego (-148)

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