The Arizona Diamondbacks and St. Louis Cardinals face off on in the first game on the Saturday MLB schedule. The matchup is the third in as many days between the National League clubs. St. Louis will send Miles Mikolas to the mound. Arizona will counter by deploying Merrill Kelly in a battle of veteran right-handers.
Caesars Sportsbook lists St. Louis as a -150 money-line favorite (risk $150 to win $100) for this 2:15 p.m. ET first pitch. The total number of runs Vegas thinks will be scored, or the over-under, is 7.5 in the latest Cardinals vs. Diamondbacks odds. Before making any Diamondbacks vs. Cardinals picks, you need to check out the MLB predictions and betting advice from SportsLine's advanced computer simulation model.
The SportsLine Projection Model simulates every MLB game 10,000 times and it is off to a sizzling start to the 2022 season. It's on a 25-11 roll on top-rated MLB picks through three weeks, returning almost $1,100 for $100 players. Anyone following it has seen huge returns.
Now, the model has set its sights on Diamondbacks vs. Cardinals, and just locked in its picks and MLB predictions. You can head to SportsLine now to see the model's picks. Now, here are several MLB odds and betting lines for Cardinals vs. Diamondbacks:
- Diamondbacks vs. Cardinals money line: Cardinals -150, Diamondbacks +130
- Diamondbacks vs. Cardinals over-under: 7.5 runs
- Diamondbacks vs. Cardinals run line: Cardinals -1.5 (+140)
- ARZ: The Diamondbacks are 56-105 in the last 161 games against the NL
- STL: The Cardinals are 89-72-1 in the last 162 games against the NL
Why you should back the Diamondbacks
Arizona's projection is powered by its starting pitching in this matchup. Kelly owns a 1.69 ERA in 21.1 innings, and he has not allowed a home run this season. Kelly is inducing a ground ball rate of 50 percent, and the veteran has more than three times as many strikeouts as walks in 2022. Over the last three seasons, Kelly has a 3.89 ERA that would rank 10 percent better than the league average during that sample.
From there, the Cardinals entered the weekend with bottom-five rankings in home runs, doubles, slugging percentage and walks on offense. The Diamondbacks rank in the top five of the National League in home runs with a top-three mark in walks.
Why you should back the Cardinals
Pitching is a notable strength for the Cardinals, and that is evident in the team's results in recent days. St. Louis currently has a top five bullpen in the National League, entering the weekend with a 2.74 ERA and only 2.99 walks per nine innings. Arizona's offense is struggling at a high level, ranking last in the NL in hits and strikeouts. The Diamondbacks also rank in the bottom three of the league in runs scored, doubles, slugging percentage and on-base percentage, and the advantages don't stop there for St. Louis against Arizona.
The Cardinals have an outstanding starting pitching option in Mikolas, with the veteran right-hander owning a 1.21 ERA in four starts this season. Mikolas is a former All-Star with only 1.61 walks issued per innings in 2022 and 1.82 per nine innings in his career, both of which are elite figures. Since 2018, Mikolas has a 3.43 ERA across more than 450 innings, and that paints a favorable picture for the Cardinals.
How to make Diamondbacks vs. Cardinals picks
SportsLine's model is leaning over on the run total, projecting 8.8 combined runs, and it says one side of the money line has all the value. You can only get the model's MLB picks at SportsLine.
So who wins Cardinals vs. Diamondbacks? And which side has all the value? Visit SportsLine now to see which side of Diamondbacks vs. Cardinals you need to jump on Saturday, all from the model that has crushed its MLB picks, and find out.
