This game kicks off the seasons’ second full week and will already mark the start of the second series of the year between the Milwaukee Brewers and St. Louis Cardinals. St. Louis took the first series in Milwaukee and now get a chance to stick it to the Brew Crew again at home, but to do so, Miles Mikolas will need a better start than he had the first time around. Of course, for Milwaukee to get revenge, they’ll need a better showing from Jhoulys Chacin than they got in his Brewers’ debut.
First pitch for the game between the Brewers and Cardinals is scheduled for Monday, April 9, 2018, at 7:05 p.m. ET at Busch Stadium. The matchup will be shown on ESPN.
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Odds Analysis
At the plate this season, the Cardinals have been a bit inconsistent. With Jedd Gyorko on the DL, Matt Carpenter is at third and Jose Martinez is manning first. That’s good given Martinez’s hot start. He’s batting .364 in the team’s first six games.
Martinez, Yadier Molina, Paul DeJong and Tommy Pham are all off to hot starts, but the Cardinals are still waiting for Marcell Ozuna’s bat to heat up, providing the important power bat in the heart of the order. That’s the bat that was missing last year and is still missing though the threat has helped reshape the order.
Kolten Wong and Dexter Fowler have also been MIA at the dish so far. The two are spark plugs when swinging well, helping drive the offense with a bit of foot speed.
While the Cardinal bats are rather hot and cold, the Brewers are performing better—or at least more consistently top to bottom in the order.
Aside from Orlando Arcia, the rest of the order is seeing the ball well. Ryan Braun already has a pair of bombs. Christian Yelich and Lorenzo Cain are proving why they were worth the cost of acquisition and the outfield depth that was much discussed heading into the season is working out to this point.
Probable Pitchers
Miles Mikolas looked better at the plate than on the mound in his first start for the Cardinals.
St. Louis jumped out early in the offseason to ink the right-hander after a successful showing in Japan. The former Padre and Ranger couldn’t find his way in his first tour of duty in the Major Leagues, but was a polished pitcher in Japan. St. Louis was hoping that would translate.
Despite allowing four runs in 5.2 innings in his first start, he got the win largely because of his own home run. On the flip side, however, he allowed three dingers to the Brewers. Milwaukee will look to square off against some misses in the middle of the plate again on Monday.
While he avoided missing out of the zone, his misses in the strike zone were potentially even more damaging.
In his first start, Mikolas outdueled Zach Davies in a game were neither starter brought it. Now, he’ll get a redo against the Brew Crew, this time against another Milwaukee starter who struggled in his first time out: Jhoulys Chacin.
Chacin had a comeback season for the Padres last year, earning himself a nice two-year contract with the Brewers this offseason. Like Mikolas, Chacin was a gamble sign for Milwaukee after he dominated at Petco Park, but struggled on the road. So far, the gamble hasn’t paid off. Chacin has struggled both at Petco Park and at Miller Park in his first two outings.
Getting the nod in the second game of the year against his former club, Chacin only made it 3.1 innings before getting yanked. He allowed San Diego to score four runs on seven hits, belting a pair of homers. He allowed another long ball in his second start with the Cardinals tallying six runs—only three earned—off him in 5.2 innings at Miller Park. He allowed another homer in that game.
The longball has been an issue for both starters in their brief starts to the 2018 campaign. We could see a bit more power on display on Monday if neither pitcher does a better job locating in the zone.
Live Betting
The current plan could have Greg Holland ready to join the Cardinals’ bullpen just in time for this Monday night matchup.
News of Holland’s deal with St. Louis came on Opening Day and the veteran reliever has gotten into a couple games in extended spring and will have another outing in the minors on Saturday before getting activated.
Holland will vastly improve a bullpen that’s the weakest part of the Cardinals roster. Even before the Luke Gregerson injury, the team was lacking in the late innings. With Holland in the fold, Jordan Hicks, Bud Norris, Tyler Lyons and Dominic Leone can be used earlier in the games and return to more normal roles rather than being thrust into the ninth inning.
Stablizing the roles should help a Cardinals’ bullpen that’s already had a hefty workload and a few early struggles.
With Holland, the Cardinals pen is closer to on par with Milwaukee who has a much deeper collection of arms. The most interesting of which may be Josh Hader who, like Hicks, is a talented young hurler with a ton of upside.
Even with Holland on board, it’s hard to know if he’s truly ready. He struggled down the stretch with Colorado and hasn’t seen Major League hitters yet, having signed so late.
With Holland still a question, the Brewers’ pen is the deeper unit. Along with Hader, Jacob Barnes, Oliver Drake, Jeremy Jeffress and Dan Jennings all provided different looks leading up to Corey Knebel, perhaps the NL’s best closer last year.
MLB Pick
Look for a higher scoring game on Monday as the two postseason contenders send their newest arms to the hill, each struggling a bit to find their way.
The Cardinals have home field advantage in this one, but the Brewers have been playing better baseball in the early going of this 2018 campaign.
Look for Milwaukee’s offense to plate a few early runs against Mikolas and then keep adding on against a lackluster Cardinals’ bullpen. The Cardinals’ offense should keep it close early against Chacin, but the Brewer bullpen could be the difference maker in this high scoring affair.
MLB Odds: Brewers 8, Cardinals 7
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