St. Louis Cardinals vs Pittsburgh Pirates Prediction, 8/12/2021 MLB Pick, Tips and Odds
Game: St. Louis Cardinals vs Pittsburgh Pirates
Date: Thursday, August 12, 2021
Location: PNC Park in Pittsburgh, PA
TV: AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh
Odds/Point Spread: St. Louis (-125) Pittsburgh (+100)
Wade LeBlanc and the St. Louis Cardinals (56-56, 3rd in NL Central) are headed to PNC Park on Thursday where they'll take on the Pittsburgh Pirates (41-72, 5th in NL Central). The Cardinals open this contest at -125 while the Pirates are priced at +100. The over/under opens at 8.5. The pitchers who are expected to start are Wade LeBlanc and JT Brubaker.
As a squad, the St. Louis Cardinals are notching 4.0 runs/g, which puts them at 26th in the league. They have accumulated 445 runs while holding a team OBP of .307. The Cardinals have accounted for 171 two-baggers as a unit and have hit 121 baseballs out of the stadium. They have amassed 425 runs batted in as well as 859 base knocks on the year, and their team batting average sits at .236. St. Louis is slugging .389 and have struck out 906 times, while taking a walk on 331 occasions.
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The Cardinals hold a team earned run average of 4.24 for the season (14th in MLB), and their staff has rung up 850 batters. They have walked 462 opposing hitters and their FIP sits at 4.41 as a team this season. They have a strikeout to walk ratio of 1.84 and their pitching staff has earned a collective WHIP of 1.35. Cardinals pitchers have conceded 99 long balls in addition to 490 runs in total (14th in MLB).
Cardinals relief pitchers have gone to the mound with runners on 123 times in addition to having 105 appearances in high leverage situations. The relievers are sitting with 58 holds this season (14th in the league). The Cardinals relief pitchers have a save percentage of 72.1% and has come into the game in 103 save situations. They have 31 saves over the course of the season and have blown 12 of 43 save opportunities. The relief pitchers have inherited 209 runners on the season and 38.3% of those runners ended up crossing the plate. The Cardinals have sent 383 relief pitchers to the hill so far this year.
The St. Louis Cardinals have accumulated 2,905 putouts at this point in the season, in addition to 1,014 assists and 62 errors. Their fielding percentage is currently at .984 which has them ranked 13th in pro baseball, and have 779 double plays. The Cardinals have turned 71.1% of balls hit into play into outs in their 8,715 innings on the field, which has them sitting 5th in MLB.
LeBlanc (46-49 career mark) holds a FIP of 4.75 and he has faced 3,970 batters in the majors. He has allowed 974 hits (9.4 hits per nine innings) and has 282 free passes. His earned run average is 4.52 (467 ER's allowed) and he has a WHIP of 1.352. LeBlanc has taken the hill for 929 frames and is sitting with 670 K's thus far in his career.
The Pirates have a SLG% of .363 and they earn 3.62 runs per game (30th in the league). They have notched 175 doubles, while walking 353 times as well as earning 405 runs. Pittsburgh has 87 home runs so far this season as well as 382 RBIs. They have been rung up on 913 occasions (25th in the league) and have notched a total of 877 base knocks. The Pittsburgh Pirates have compiled an on-base percentage of .307 in addition to a batting average of .236 so far this year.
The Pittsburgh pitching staff have given up 580 runs so far this season while having a team ERA of 5.11 (546 earned runs surrendered). They have conceded 143 long balls and they relinquish 5.43 runs per 9 innings (27th in the league). The Pirates hold a team WHIP of 1.410 and have a FIP of 4.66 as a pitching staff for the year. Their strikeout to walk ratio comes in at 2.20 (915 strikeouts vs 415 bases on balls). They rank 23rd in the league as a staff in total hits given up with 942.
Pittsburgh bullpen pitchers hold an inherited score rate of 35.0% of 143 inherited runners. Their relievers have come in 84 times in high leverage situations in addition to 85 occasions with runners on base. Sitting with 74 save situations, the Pirates have tallied 47 holds and 10 blown saves. They are currently ranked 16th in the league with a save percentage of 60.0%, and they have sent 386 bullpen pitchers onto the diamond on the season. Pittsburgh has called on relievers to enter the contest in 25 save chances and they have come away with 15 saves.
Out of their 8,661 innings played, the Pirates are sitting with a defensive efficiency of 69.0% (21st in baseball). The Pittsburgh Pirates have turned 94 double plays and own a fielding percentage of .986 (6th in the majors). The Pirates have recorded 969 assists, 54 errors and have a tally of 2,887 putouts this season.
During his pro baseball career, Brubaker has allowed 150 hits while he has tallied 156 punch outs in 154 innings. Brubaker (5-14 record in his career) has a 4.95 ERA and has given up 8.7 hits per 9 innings. He has surrendered 85 earned runs while holding a WHIP of 1.267 and a FIP of 4.7. His strikeout to walk ratio is 3.39 and he has faced 663 opposing hitters so far in his career.
Who will win tonight's baseball game against the spread?
Tony Sink's Pick: Take Pittsburgh (+100)
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Additional Resources:
Pittsburgh Pirates - Twitter
St. Louis Cardinals - Twitter