Boston Red Sox vs St. Louis Cardinals Prediction, 5/17/2024 MLB Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Boston Red Sox vs St. Louis Cardinals

Date: Friday, May 17, 2024

Location: Busch Stadium in St. Louis, MO

TV: Bally Sports Midwest

Busch Stadium is the location where the St. Louis Cardinals (18-25) will try to defeat the Boston Red Sox (22-21) on Friday. The pitchers taking the mound are Brayan Bello and Kyle Gibson.

The Red Sox have accounted for 78 doubles as a team and have knocked 43 balls out of the park. Boston has a slugging percentage of .397 and have been called out on strikes 430 times, while taking a walk on 136 occasions. As a unit, the Boston Red Sox are scoring 4.3 runs/g, which is 16th in baseball. They have earned 176 RBI's as well as 354 base knocks over the course of the season, and their team batting average sits at .242. They have racked up 183 runs while having a team OBP of .314.

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The Red Sox have compiled a team ERA of 2.74 this season (1st in MLB), and the staff has rung up 366 batters. Red Sox pitchers have allowed 35 home runs in addition to 152 runs in total (3rd in the league). Their pitching staff has walked 108 batters and their FIP sits at 3.39 as a team so far this year. Boston has given up 319 hits (7.4 per 9 innings) and also 118 earned runs. They have accumulated a K/BB ratio of 3.39 and their pitching staff has earned a collective WHIP of 1.10.

Red Sox pitchers have gone to the mound with opponents on base 31 times as well as having 52 appearances in high leverage situations. The relievers are sitting with 21 holds this year (23rd in MLB). The Red Sox relievers have earned a save rate of 52.6% and has come into the game in 41 save situations. They have recorded 10 saves this season and have missed out on 9 out of their 19 save chances. The bullpen pitchers have inherited 37 base runners over the course of the season with 37.8% of those runners crossed the plate. The Red Sox have dispatched 137 relief pitchers to the mound on the year.

The Red Sox have transformed 71.0% of balls in play into outs out of 3,486 innings on the diamond, which ranks them 8th in baseball. The Boston Red Sox have 1,162 putouts at this point in the season, in addition to 383 assists and 33 errors. Their fielding percentage sits at .979 which puts them in 29th in the majors, and have 30 double plays.

Bello (18-20 career record) holds a FIP of 4.15 and he has faced 1,065 batters in the majors. He has surrendered 265 base hits (9.7 hits per nine innings) and has had 81 free passes. His ERA is 4.21 (115 ER's allowed) and he has a WHIP of 1.407. Bello has taken the ball for 246 frames and is sitting with 214 punch outs thus far in his career.

The St. Louis Cardinals have accounted for an on-base percentage of .305 in addition to a batting average of .225 so far this year. They have struck out on 373 occasions (14th in MLB) and have notched a total of 322 base knocks. St. Louis has recorded 32 home runs on the season as well as 145 runs batted in. The Cardinals hold a slugging % of .347 and they have an average of 3.60 runs per contest (29th in the league). They have notched 68 doubles, while taking a walk 151 times and notching 155 runs.

The Cardinals have a team WHIP of 1.326 and have a FIP of 4.04 as a pitching staff on the year. Their K/BB ratio sits at 8.60 (361 strikeouts against 124 walks). They come in at 27th in the league as a staff in total hits conceded with 379. They have surrendered 51 HR's and they allow 4.87 runs per 9 innings (23rd in baseball). The St. Louis pitching staff have surrendered 205 runs this year while holding an ERA of 4.39 (185 earned runs relinquished).

With 50 save situations, the Cardinals have tallied 32 holds in addition to 4 blown saves. St. Louis has called on relief pitchers to enter the contest in 18 save chances and they have earned 14 saves. Their relief pitchers have stepped onto the mound 41 times in high leverage situations and on 43 occasions with runners on. St. Louis bullpen pitchers have an inherited score percentage of 43.1% of 58 inherited runners. They are currently ranked 1st in the league with a save rate of 77.8%, and they have sent 135 relief pitchers onto the diamond so far this season.

The St. Louis Cardinals have gotten 44 double plays and hold a fielding percentage of .989 (5th in professional baseball). The Cardinals have racked up 387 assists, 17 errors and have accounted for 1,139 putouts during this campaign. In 3,417 innings played, the Cardinals have a defensive efficiency of 68.0% (25th in professional baseball).

Gibson (106-102 career mark) has earned a 4.52 earned run average while giving up 9.2 hits per nine innings. He has a K/BB ratio of 2.30 and he has faced 7,475 hitters so far in his MLB career. He has given up 876 earned runs while holding a WHIP of 1.372 and a FIP of 4.3. In his career, Gibson has conceded 1,786 base knocks while totaling 1,399 strikeouts in 1,745 frames.

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

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take St. Louis

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