It’s that time folks. Opening Day for Cardinals Baseball. It should be a holiday but we won’t get into that. Let’s take a look at the matchup between the Cardinals as they take on the Brewers in Milwaukee.
Starting Pitchers
Cardinals: Miles Mikolas – 32 GS | 200.2 IP | 18-4 | 2.83 ERA | 1.07 WHIP |
Mikolas turned into one of the most productive starters in the National League in 2018. He was the only pitcher in the National League with more starts than he had walks. Mikolas finished his 2018 campaign finishing 6th in the NL CY Young voting. He was also signed to a four year extension during the off-season.
Brewers: Jhoulys Chacin – 35 GS | 192.2 IP | 15-8 | 3.50 ERA | 1.16 WHIP |
Chacin led the league with 35 starts and quietly had a very productive year the the Brewers. Outside of Chacin the Milwaukee rotation has question marks, leaving Chacin to really anchor this staff. He has yet to hit the 200 inning mark, but the Brewers are going to need innings. The bullpen for the Brewers was one of the best in baseball, but many of their guys had career years. It might be tough to replicate, so Chacin being productive could be critical for Milwaukee’s success in 2019.
Starting Lineup
St. Louis Cardinals
1. Matt Carpenter – 3B
2. Paul Goldschmidt – 1B
3. Paul DeJong – SS
4. Marcell Ozuna – LF
5. Yadier Molina – C
6. Dexter Fowler – RF
7. Kolten Wong – 2B
8. Harrison Bader – CF
9. Miles Mikolas – P
The Cardinals made one of the biggest moves of the off-season adding Paul Goldschmidt to play first base. In a rather shocking move, they were able to extend him before getting to the regular season. The Cardinals were one of the more productive lineups last season but adding Goldschmidt should make it even better.
Milwaukee Brewers
1. Lorenzo Cain – CF
2. Christian Yelich – RF
3. Ryan Braun – RF
4. Travis Shaw – 3B
5. Jesus Aguilar – 1B
6. Mike Moustakas – 2B
7. Yasmani Grandal – C
8. Orlando Arica – SS
9. Jhoulys Chacin – P
The Brewers shocked the Central last season by taking it over on game 163 over the Cubs. Their lineup is a huge reason why. Christian Yelich turned in an MVP season and the Brewers got great production out of Moustakas and Cain as well. They picked up Yasmani Grandal to upgrade at Catcher, making their lineup even more deadly.
Wrap Up
This is such a great matchup for Opening Day. Both teams got better this off-season. I cannot wait to see what happens.
My Prediction: 7-2 St. Louis Wins
What are your thoughts?
Send me a tweet @AaronArchCity
Thanks for reading!
Aaron M.
