The Snakes are in town to battle the Birds!
The 2nd place St. Louis Cardinals are set to take on the Arizona Diamondbacks for the first time in 2025. This is the first NL West opponent of the season as well! Entering tonight’s game with a record of 26-24 the D-Backs are baseball’s best 4th place team. 5 games back of the first place Dodgers with a +4 run differential the Snakes look to keep pace in a crowded and contentious NL West.
The Cardinals, meanwhile, after another typical hot month of May are starting to slow their pace just a bit having lost 3 of 4 and will send Miles Mikolas to the mound who has to be one of the players starting to creep into the surprise category for the season! The kitchen sink right hander has produced a 3.77 ERA this season and is a +4 pitching run value on the season which puts him in the 74th percentile of pitchers. He’s been solid but underlying metrics continue to question the sustainability of this new found success. An xERA of 4.45 and a K% of just 14.2% makes you wonder if the other shoe begins to drop tonight against a dangerous lineup like the one Arizona boasts.
How to watch: AppleTV+
How to listen: 1120 AM KMOX/104.1 FM
First pitch: 7:15
Matchup:
STL: Miles Mikolas (3-2 3.77 ERA 4.45 xERA 3.59 FIP 5.06 xFIP)
VS
AZ: Zac Gallen (3-5 5.14 ERA 4.16 xERA 4.68 FIP 4.15 xFIP)
Player to watch:
STL: Ivan Herrera – This season, because of injury limited opportunities, Herrera isn’t a league qualified hitter yet. If he were he’d be among the very best in terms of xwOBA (.442) xBA(.321) and xSLG (.646). He also rarely strikes out with a 15.7 K% and a 10.0% BB% so, not only does he not strike out, he takes his walks, and he hits the crap out of the baseball. The Cardinals may have a budding star with the bat in Ivan Herrera and its becoming harder to ignore.
AZ: Corbin Carroll – The D-Backs superstar is a Statcast darling. Average exit velocity of (93.9 MPH), Hard hit% of 54.3%, xwOBA of (.409), xSLG of (.612)!!!! Also, an average sprint speed of 29.5 ft/s. Carroll does everything on the field well but he will strike out his fair share at 24.9% K%. After seeing Bobby Witt Jr last weekend the will have to contend with another emerging face of baseball and Carroll is fun one to watch!