Pittsburgh Pirates vs St. Louis Cardinals Prediction, 4/7/2022 MLB Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Pittsburgh Pirates vs St. Louis Cardinals

Date: Thursday, April 7, 2022

Location: Busch Stadium in St. Louis, MO

TV: Bally Sports Midwest

Odds/Point Spread: Pittsburgh (+175) St. Louis (-200)

Busch Stadium is where the St. Louis Cardinals (90-72 last year) will attempt to defeat the Pittsburgh Pirates (61-101 last season) on Thursday. The moneyline on this contest has the Pirates at +175 and the Cardinals are opening at -200. The over/under is set at 8.5. The pitchers taking the mound will be JT Brubaker and Adam Wainwright.

The Pirates accumulated 240 doubles as a unit and knocked 124 balls out of the park. Pittsburgh had a slugging percentage of .364 and were called out on strikes 1,328 times, while drawing a walk on 529 occasions. As a squad, the Pittsburgh Pirates recorded 3.8 runs per outing, which had them sitting at 30th in MLB. They accounted for 570 runs batted in in addition to 1,261 base knocks in the previous season, and their batting average finished at .236. They tallied 609 runs and held an on-base percentage of .309.

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The Pirates had a team ERA of 5.08 over the course of last season (28th in baseball), and they rung up 1,312 hitters. Their K/BB ratio was 2.17 and their pitching staff had a collective WHIP of 1.44. Pirates pitchers surrendered 213 home runs and 833 total runs (26th in baseball). Their pitching staff walked 606 opposing hitters and their FIP came in at 4.74 as a team in the previous season.

The Pirates had dispatched 583 relief pitchers to the hill over the course of last year. The relievers inherited 201 base runners last season with 34.3% of those players earned a run for their team. They compiled 25 saves in the prior season and missed out on 25 out of their 50 save opportunities. The Pirates relief pitchers earned a save rate of 50.0% and stepped onto the mound in 131 save situations. The relievers finished with 78 holds over the course of the prior season (16th in MLB). Pirates relief pitchers entered the game with runners on 119 times in addition to having 135 games in high leverage situations.

The Pirates turned 68.7% of baseballs in play into outs out of 12,567 innings on the field, which had them sitting 23rd in baseball. The Pittsburgh Pirates earned 4,189 putouts over the course of last season, in addition to 1,378 assists and 70 errors. Their fielding percentage was at .988 which was 2nd in MLB, and they twisted 139 double plays.

Brubaker has taken the hill for 171 innings and is sitting with 177 strikeouts thus far in his career. His earned run average is 5.24 (100 ER's allowed) and his WHIP is 1.317. He has allowed 171 base knocks (9.0 hits per 9 innings) and has 55 free passes. Brubaker (6-16 career mark) sits with a FIP of 4.86 while he has gone up against 743 hitters in the majors.

St. Louis accumulated 198 long balls last season and 678 RBIs. They hit 261 doubles, while walking 478 times as well as putting up 706 runs. The St. Louis Cardinals held an on-base percentage of .313 and a batting average of .244 over the course of last year. The Cardinals had a team slugging percentage of .412 and they earned 4.36 runs per outing (20th in the league). They were called out on strikes on 1,341 occasions (24th in MLB) and totaled 1,303 hits.

The St. Louis pitching staff surrendered 672 runs in the previous season while having an ERA of 3.98 (626 earned runs yielded). They surrendered 152 HR's and they conceded 4.27 runs per 9 innings (10th in the league). The Cardinals held a team WHIP of 1.300 in addition to having a FIP of 4.30 as a team in the prior season. Their K/BB ratio sat at 2.01 (1,225 strikeouts against 608 bases on balls). They finished at 6th in baseball as a staff in total hits conceded with 1,234.

St. Louis had bullpen pitchers take the mound in 71 save chances and they walked away with 50 saves. They ranked 1st in baseball holding a save percentage of 70.4%, and they sent 557 relievers to the mound last season. Their relievers came in 166 times in high leverage situations in addition to 167 occasions with runners on base. St. Louis bullpen pitchers had an inherited score percentage of 37.4% out of 273 inherited base runners. Wrapping up the year with 182 save situations, the Cardinals earned 108 holds and also 21 blown saves.

Out of their 12,753 innings played, the Cardinals earned a defensive efficiency of 71.4% (2nd in professional baseball). St. Louis Cardinals twisted 137 double plays and notched a fielding percentage of .986 (13th in baseball). The Cardinals accrued 1,513 assists, 84 errors and accounted for 4,251 putouts in the previous season.

So far in his MLB career, Wainwright has allowed 2,234 base knocks while earning 2,004 K's in 2,375 frames. Wainwright (184-105 record in his career) is the owner of a 3.35 earned run average and has surrendered 8.5 hits per nine innings. He has surrendered a total of 885 earned runs while earning a WHIP of 1.210 and a FIP of 3.4. He has a K/BB ratio of 3.13 and he has faced 9,829 batters in his career.

Who will win tonight's MLB game against the spread or moneyline?

Tony Sink's Pick: Take Pittsburgh (+175)

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