WinView Games Playbook: Cardinals vs Cubs - July 19

St. Louis Cardinals vs Chicago Cubs

Chicago Cubs -152

Game Total: 8.5

Game Play Predictions

St. Louis Cardinals

·         The Cardinals are 1-0 under new manager Mike Shildt and sitting just two games over .500 entering the second half of the season.

·         The Cardinals are below league average in several offensive categories. They are 19^th in runs scored, 17^th in batting average, 21^st in on-base percentage, and 19^th in slugging percentage.

·         The pitching for the Cardinals is also very average across the board, with them being 12^th in ERA, 15^th in quality starts, 14^th in WHIP, and 11^th in batting average against.

·         They come in with a team wOBA sitting at .312 vs right-handed pitchers, along with a team ISO of .153 vs RHP, both of which are in the bottom half of the league.

·         Carlos Martínez is pitching tonight and comes in on a very solid three-game stretch. He has allowed five earned runs in his last three games while posting 14 strikeouts in that time.

·         Matt Carpenter is someone to look out for tonight, as he ended the first half of the season with hits in five of his last six games and three home runs in that span. Carpenter also has two career home runs vs Kyle Hendricks , who is pitching for Chicago.

·         Marcell Ozuna and Dexter Fowler both have solid historic numbers vs Kyle Hendricks , but they do come from smaller sample sizes.

·         Paul DeJong had hits in seven of his last eight games before the break, but he had only one double and no home runs. He’s making contact, but simply lacking the power right now.

Chicago Cubs

·         The Cubs are in the top-10 for several offensive categories. They are 5^th in runs scored, 2^nd in batting average, 1^st in on-base percentage and 7^th in slugging percentage.

·         They come in atop the NL Central division, with a 2.5 game lead, along with being the best team the National League.

·         They won seven of their last 10 games before the break and scored four or more runs in seven of those games.

·         Kyle Hendricks is on the mound tonight for the Cubs and comes in with giving up only five earned runs in his last three starts while adding 13 strikeouts.

·         The Cubs have the second highest team wOBA vs RHP, coming in at .335 and a team ISO of .164, which is 12^th best in the league.

·         Anthony Rizzo has nine career hits vs Carlos Martínez , three of which are for home runs. So if you are a believer in BvP, then this is your spot.

·         Ben Zobrist has also had plenty of success in his career vs Martinez, with nine hits in 27 at-bats, which is good for a .333 average.

·         Kris Bryant is on the other end of this spectrum vs Martinez, as he has struck out 14 times in 28 at-bats against him.