Welcome to the 2023 St. Louis Cardinals Weekly Preview for August 14 through August 20.
The Weekly Preview highlights the St. Louis Cardinals opponents for the week, probable pitchers for both teams, recent top performers to watch, and other news and notes that are important to watch for.
This week the Cardinals take on the Oakland Athletics and New York Mets. After having two off days last week, they will play every day this week.
2023 St. Louis Cardinal Weekly Preview 8/7-8/13
Schedule and Opponents Background
The St. Louis Cardinals start this week with a three-game set against the Oakland Athletics starting Monday. Then the New York Mets come into town for a four-game set to finish the week.
The Athletics have the worst record (33-88), the lowest OPS, and have scored the fewest runs in baseball this season. Despite the terrible record and statistics, the A’s do have an abundance of young talented players, including Zack Gelof, Esteury Ruiz, and Lawrence Butler, among others.
The Athletics’ pitching staff also has the worst ERA and WHIP in baseball. On the road, this staff has a 6.75 ERA and 1.65 WHIP.
The Mets are 52-63 and fourth in the National League East. Similarly to the Cardinals, they have already committed to competing in 2024 and beyond. The Mets’ offense ranks 21st in runs scored and 20th in OPS this season, but still, they have the potential to pile up runs behind Pete Alonso, Brandon Nimmo, and Francisco Lindor.
The Met’s pitching staff is depleted after trading away former Cy Young Award Winners Justin Verlander (Houston Astros) and Max Scherzer (Texas Rangers). On the season they rank 19th in ERA and 20th in WHIP. When it comes to away games, they rank 27th in ERA and WHIP.
Probable Pitchers
Game 1 vs Oakland Athletics: Miles Mikolas vs JP Sears (Monday 6:45 PM CDT)
Miles Mikolas starts the week off for the Cardinals against JP Sears. The young lefty for the Athletics has a 4.23 ERA and 5.02 FIP across 23 starts and 125.2 innings this season. Sears throws a fastball (50%), sweeper (25%), changeup (13.6%), and slider (11.3%).
Mikolas is coming off an outing versus the Tampa Bay Rays in which he allowed eight hits and two runs across seven innings. The veteran struck out five batters. Despite the solid outing, Mikolas still got tagged with the loss. Mikolas didn’t allow any runs until the seventh inning when Isaac Paredes belted a solo home run. The second run came in the eighth inning off a Yandy Diaz RBI single.
Game 2 vs Oakland Athletics: Dakota Hudson vs Freddy Tarnok (Tuesday 6:45 PM CDT)
Dakota Hudson faces off against rookie Freddy Tarnok in the second game of this series. Tarnok has 15.1 career innings in Major League Baseball across five relief appearances and one start. He currently ranks as the Athletics’ fifth best prospect. He throws a 4-seam fastball (51.6%), slider (25.8%), changeup (12.2%), and curveball (10.5%). Across 14.2 innings this season he’s allowed four home runs and has a 11-14 BB-K ratio.
Hudson made his third start of the season last week against the Tampa Bay Rays. The Rays, who rank fourth in runs and OPS this season, tagged Hudson for three runs across five innings. This raised Hudson’s ERA to 4.31 and FIP to 4.86. All three runs were scored from two Jose Siri home runs. Hudson earned the win.
Game 3 vs Oakland Athletics: Matthew Liberatore vs Paul Blackburn (Wednesday 5:45 PM CDT)
The last matchup in this series is scheduled to be Matthew Liberatore against Paul Blackburn. At 29 years old, Blackburn has the most experience in the A’s starting rotation and is a one-time All-Star. He’s pitched 315 innings throughout his seven-year career, averaging a 4.97 ERA and 4.32 FIP to pair with a 15-20 record. Blackburn will be the trickiest pitcher the Cardinals face this series because he uses a six-pitch mix (Sinker, Cutter, Slider, 4-Seam Fastball, Curveball, Changeup) that keeps batters guessing at the plate.
On the other end of the spectrum, Liberatore easily has the least amount of experience in the Cardinals’ starting rotation. Liberatore’s season is rough, but he is coming off the best outing from any Cardinals pitcher this season. On August 10 versus the Rays, he pitched eight innings of two-hit ball while striking out seven batters. Liberatore can easily repeat his success this week against a weak Oakland offense.
Game 1 vs New York Mets: Adam Wainwright vs Jose Quintana (Thursday 6:15 PM CDT)
A battle between former teammates occurs on Thursday when Jose Quintana returns to Busch Stadium for the first time since finishing the 2022 season as a member of the Cardinals. Quintana has had an impressive stretch of baseball since returning from the injured list late in July. Through five games, he’s recorded a 3.03 ERA and a 2.93 FIP across 29.2 innings and five games.
Wainwright is coming off the worst start of his career as he allowed eight earned runs in just a single inning versus the Kansas City Royals. Cardinals President of Baseball Operations John Mozeliak said Wainwright’s role will be re-evaluated after this upcoming start, John Denton of MLB.com reports.
Game 2 vs New York Mets: Zack Thompson vs TBD (Friday 7:15 PM CDT)
Zack Thompson takes the mound on Friday instead of Steven Matz after the Cardinals placed Matz on the injured list earlier this week. The left-handed Thompson has made one start this season which came on August 6. He pitched four innings versus the Colorado Rockies, allowing one earned run and striking out eight. If he performs well in this one, he will likely get a chance to finish the season in the rotation.
The Mets do not have a starter listed for this game.
Game 3 vs New York Mets: Miles Mikolas vs Kodai Senga (Saturday 6:15 PM CDT)
Mikolas makes his second start of the week against Kodai Senga. The rookie Senga is having an excellent season for the Mets with a 3.30 ERA and 3.55 FIP across 122.2 innings. The best part of his game is the swing and miss, as he records 10.93 strikeouts per nine innings. However, he also allows 4.33 walks per nine innings as well. So, the Cardinals hitters should stay patient at the plate and wait for their pitch.
On Monday, Mikolas allowed four earned runs across 6.1 innings while striking out five batters. He’s made one appearance against the Mets this season, going six innings but allowing six earned runs.
Game 4 vs New York Mets: Dakota Hudson vs Carlos Carrasco (Sunday 1:15 PM CDT)
For the last game of the week, Hudson takes on veteran Carlos Carrasco. At 36 years old, is arguably having the worst season of his career. His ERA (6.40) is his worst since 2013 (6.75), when he pitched just 46.2 innings. His FIP (5.83) was his lowest since his rookie season in 2009 (7.08) when he threw 22.1 innings.
Earlier this week Hudson earned the win by pitching 6.2 innings and allowing just two earned runs. This lowered his season ERA to 4.03.
Top Performers to Watch
Lars Nootbaar: Nootbaar continues his hot streak after going 8-for-23 this week. He is the hottest player on the Cardinals, on top of being a fan favorite. Keep a close eye on the rising star.
Willson Contreras: Over the last 15 days, the veteran backstop is slashing .367/.441/.633 with five runs and eight RBI.
Tommy Edman: For the second week in a row, Edman is a top performer to watch. Since returning from the injured list on August 1, Edman is slashing .297/.350/.514 with six runs and three RBI across 10 games.
Opposing Players to Watch
Zack Gelof: The man to watch in Oakland is Gelof. The rookie second baseman has very similar potential to that of Nolan Gorman. He is about the same size and stature, has immense power, and strikes out more than 30% of the time. He’s slashing .253/.323/.563 across 96 MLB plate appearances.
Pete Alonso: At 35 home runs, Alonso is third in home runs behind Matt Olson and Shohei Ohtani. Over the last 15 days, Alonso is slashing .279/.385/.674 with five runs and 14 RBI. Stopping Alonso is critical to beating the Mets.
Projected St. Louis Cardinals Record This Week: 4-3
Just because these two teams don’t have an excellent record doesn’t mean it will be easy for the Cardinals. As mentioned above, the A’s have a great core of young players that can carry them to a win here and there. The Mets still have a couple of dependable pitchers in Senga and Quintana, and I expect them to win both matchups.
Check out my work over at FantasySixPack.net.
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