Once again, the Cardinals are set to take on the Milwaukee Brewers. Thankfully, this time the series takes place in St. Louis as opposed to Milwaukee. Regardless of the setting, the Cardinals will still have to deal with a huge problem… Christian Yelich.
Before we really get into the series preview, let’s just take a quick look at what Yelich has been able to do this season. One positive thing to note is that Yelich has played significantly better at home this season.
Miller Park – .417 BA | .540 OBP | 1.271 SLG | 1.811 OPS | 13 HR | 29 RBI |
His numbers are even more stacked when you look at his stats against only the Cardinals
Miller Park vs STL – .500 BA | .625 OBP | 1.542 | 2.167 | 8 HR | 19 RBI |
Hopefully this bodes well for the Cardinals being away from Miller Park. Yelich so far on the road has been a completely different player.
Road – .270 BA | .325 OBP | .324 SLG | .649 OPS | 0 HR | 2 RBI |
It’s a drastic difference in performance thus far. Granted the season is still young, but hopefully the Cardinals can play this to their advantage. But anyway, enough about Yelich and let’s move on to the preview.
A. Houser vs J. Flaherty
Adrian Houser get’s the start for Milwaukee in what will be his first start and appearance of 2019. He made 7 appearances out of the bullpen going 13.2 innings with a 3.29 ERA in 2018. There isn’t anything overly concerning about Houser other than the Cardinals lack of plate appearances against him. Only 5 Cardinal hitters have even faced the righty.
For the Cardinals, Jack Flaherty is looking to settle things down after his previous start against Milwaukee where he managed only 2.2 innings while giving up 5 ER’s in the process. His two starts against Milwaukee this season haven’t gone as planned, but hopefully a start in front of the home crowd can change his fortunes.
Z. Davies vs ?
Surprisingly, the Brewers most consistent starter this season has been Zach Davies. He’s 2-0 on the year with a 1.19 ERA over 4 starts. The majority of the Cardinals lineup has good career numbers off of Davies, so don’t be surprised if the Cardinals blow this one out pretty early.
Michael Wacha was slated to start but has been placed on the 10 Day IL. Will update with information
J. Chacin vs A. Wainwright
Chacin isn’t having the start he was looking for. After ending last season as the staff ace, Chacin has struggled out of the gate with a 5.92 ERA across his first 5 starts. His splits against the Cardinals have been good however, so the Birds will have their work cut out for them in this game.
It’s been an interesting start for Adam Wainwright. Two of his outings have good relatively well while the other two… not so much. Wainwright will need to bring his best to the table against a tough Brewers lineup who has good numbers off of him lifetime.
Predictions
Personally, I think the Cardinals should match up well for this home series. I think it is a good opportunity to turn the tables on Milwaukee a little bit and take back some of those games we lost early. I think the Cardinals take 2 of 3 in the series. Let’s Go Birds!
What are your thoughts? Send me a tweet @2BirdsOnAnArch!
Thanks for Reading
Aaron M.
