Tampa Bay Rays vs St. Louis Cardinals Prediction, 3/26/2026 MLB Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Tampa Bay Rays vs St. Louis Cardinals

Date: Thursday, March 26, 2026

Location: Busch Stadium in St. Louis, MO

TV: Cardinals.TV

Odds/Point Spread: Tampa Bay (+162) St. Louis (-196)

The St. Louis Cardinals (78-84 last year) are welcoming the Tampa Bay Rays (77-85 last season) at Busch Stadium on Thursday. The moneyline on this contest has the Rays at +162 and the Cardinals are at -196. The over/under is 8. The expected starting pitchers will be Drew Rasmussen and Matthew Liberatore.

The Rays accrued 242 doubles as a team and hit 182 baseballs out of the park. Tampa Bay had a slugging rate of .401 and struck out 1,397 times, while taking a walk on 468 occasions. As a unit, the Tampa Bay Rays put up 4.4 runs per contest, which had them at 15th in the league. They earned 680 runs batted in in addition to 1,374 hits over the course of last year, and their team batting average came in at .251. They notched a total of 714 runs and held an on-base percentage of .313.

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The Rays finished with a team ERA of 3.94 over the course of last season (15th in the league), and the staff rung up 1,416 hitters. Rays pitchers conceded 205 long balls and 683 runs in total (13th in baseball). They walked 474 players from the other team and their FIP was 4.15 as a squad for the prior year. Tampa Bay conceded 1,273 hits (8.0 per 9 innings) as well as 627 earned runs. Their strikeout to walk ratio was at 2.99 and the pitching staff earned a collective WHIP of 1.22.

The Rays dispatched 518 relief pitchers to the mound over the course of last year. The relief pitchers inherited 165 base runners over the course of the prior season and 32.1% of those runners crossed the plate. They had 35 saves in the previous season and did not convert 29 of their 64 chances to save the game. The Rays bullpen recorded a save percentage of 54.7% and came into the game in 154 save situations. The relievers notched 87 holds over the course of last season (18th in MLB). Rays bullpen pitchers came into the game with runners on 112 times and also had 156 games in high leverage situations.

The Tampa Bay Rays earned 4,294 putouts over the course of last year, in addition to 1,416 assists and 81 errors. Their fielding percentage was at .986 which ranked 15th in baseball, and had a total of 147 double plays. The Rays transformed 70.5% of balls hit into play into outs out of 12,882 innings on the diamond, which had them sitting 10th in MLB.

Rasmussen has taken the ball for 460 innings and has earned 428 strikeouts during his MLB career. Rasmussen (30-17 win-loss record in his career) sits with a FIP of 2.85 while he has faced 1,840 batters in the majors. His earned run average is 2.89 (148 ER's allowed) and his career WHIP is 1.067. He has conceded 372 base knocks (7.3 hits per 9 innings) with 119 walks.

St. Louis recorded 148 home runs over the course of last season to go along with 653 RBIs. They tallied 263 doubles, while walking 478 times as well as putting up 689 runs. The St. Louis Cardinals accumulated an on-base percentage of .314 and a batting average of .245 over the course of last season. The Cardinals held a team slugging percentage of .378 and they were scoring 4.25 runs per contest (19th in baseball). They struck out on 1,321 occasions (22nd in MLB) and earned a total of 1,331 base knocks.

The St. Louis pitching staff yielded 754 runs last year while holding an ERA of 4.29 (682 earned runs relinquished). They gave up 170 long balls and they relinquished 4.74 runs per 9 innings (22nd in MLB). The Cardinals had a team WHIP of 1.323 with a FIP of 4.06 as a pitching staff over the course of last year. Their strikeout to walk ratio sat at 7.60 (1,209 strikeouts against 461 walks). They had a ranking of 28th in the league as a staff in total hits allowed with 1,434.

St. Louis relievers held an inherited score rate of 33.6% of 217 inherited runners. Their bullpen pitchers came in 158 times in high leverage situations and also on 156 occasions with runners on base. Finishing with 161 save situations, the Cardinals recorded 92 holds in addition to 23 blown saves. They were ranked 12th in the league with a save percentage of 64.6%, and they sent 487 relievers to the hill last year. St. Louis had relief pitchers enter the game in 65 save opportunities and they came away with 42 saves.

In 12,888 innings on the diamond, the Cardinals finished with a defensive efficiency of 68.9% (23rd in professional baseball). The St. Louis Cardinals had 124 double plays and had a fielding percentage of .987 (11th in the majors). The Cardinals accrued 1,557 assists, 80 errors and notched a total of 4,296 putouts last year.

In his pro baseball career, Liberatore has allowed 347 base hits while accumulating 272 strikeouts in 333 innings. He has allowed 172 earned runs while earning a WHIP of 1.374 and a FIP of 4.6. He has a strikeout to walk ratio of 2.45 and he has faced 1,442 opposing hitters so far in his pro baseball career. Liberatore (16-24 mark in his career) has a 4.64 ERA while allowing 9.4 hits per 9 innings.

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

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Tampa Bay (+162)

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