St. Louis Cardinals vs Chicago Cubs Prediction MLB Picks 6/15/24

The St. Louis Cardinals and the Chicago Cubs meet Saturday in MLB action from Wrigley Field. Here’s a St. Louis Cardinals vs Chicago Cubs prediction. This will be the second installment in a three-game series. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best bets for the game. We will examine:

The Chicago Cubs recent form and player performance

The St. Louis Cardinals recent form and player performance

Recent betting trends and streaks involving the Chicago Cubs

Recent betting trends and streaks involving the St. Louis Cardinals

Recent betting trends in games played between the Cardinals and Cubs

A summary that ties it all together and produces a favorable betting outcome for the Cardinals vs Cubs game

St. Louis Cardinals Betting Preview

The Cardinals played the Pittsburgh Pirates in their early-week series. St. Louis took a 2-1 loss in the opener of that set but managed wins 4-2 and 4-3 in the remaining games. On Friday in the opener versus the Cubs, the Cards secured a 3-0 shutout win. Starter Kyle Gibson put up 7.0 frames with two hits and one walk.

In the starter role for the Cardinals on Saturday it’ll be Andre Pallante. So far this year over his 12 games (three starts) Pallante is 2-2 with a 4.88 ERA and 17 Ks in 24.0 innings. Pallante is 12-8 with a 3.92 career ERA in 121 games (13 starts).

Chicago Cubs Betting Preview

Over on the Cubs’ side, they took on the Tampa Bay Rays this week. Chicago lost 5-2 on Tuesday but came back for a 4-3 win in game two. In the rubber match the Cubs dropped the set with a 3-2 loss. On Friday Chicago had just three team hits in the defeat. Kyle Hendricks did most of the pitching on 4.1 clean innings and two hits.

It’ll be Shota Imanaga in the starting pitcher role for the Cubs on Saturday. This year so far Imanaga is 6-1 with a 1.96 ERA and 72 Ks in 69.0 innings over the first 12 starts of his MLB career.

Cardinals vs Cubs Injury Notes

Cardinals catcher Wilson Contreras (forearm) is hoping to begin a rehab assignment around June 18. RF Lars Nootbaar (oblique) could resume swinging a bat this weekend.

Cubs SP Ben Brown has been diagnosed with a stress reaction in his neck.

Total Runs Facts

• Each of the Cardinals’ last seven games as underdogs against NL Central opponents have gone UNDER the total runs line.
• Each of the Cubs’ last six games after playing the previous day have gone UNDER the total runs line.
• The ‘Inning 1 UNDER 0.5 runs’ market has hit in each of the Cubs’ last seven day games at Wrigley Field.
• The ‘Inning 1 UNDER 0.5 runs’ market has hit in each of the Cardinals’ last five games as underdogs against NL Central opponents.

Chicago Cubs Player Prop Facts

• Dansby Swanson has recorded two or more hits in four of his last five home appearances against the Cardinals.
• Cody Bellinger has recorded at least one Single in five of the Cubs’ last six games.
• Dansby Swanson has hit at least one home run in seven of his last 17 home appearances against NL Central opponents.
• Dansby Swanson has recorded at least one RBI in five of his six previous appearances against the Cardinals at Wrigley Field.
• Dansby Swanson has recorded two or more total bases in five of his last six home appearances against the Cardinals.
• Ian Happ has scored at least one run in eight of his last 10 appearances against the Cardinals after playing the previous day.
• Shota Imanaga has recorded seven or more strikeouts in four of his last five appearances with the Cubs as favorites against NL opponents.

St. Louis Cardinals Player Prop Facts

• Willson Contreras has recorded a Double in each of his last three appearances against NL opponents.
• Brendan Donovan has recorded at least one hit in each of his last 10 appearances against NL opponents.
• Paul Goldschmidt has recorded at least one Single in eight of his last nine appearances at Wrigley Field against opponents that held a losing record.
• Willson Contreras has hit a home run in each of his last two road appearances against NL Central opponents.
• Alec Burleson has recorded at least one RBI in four of the Cardinals’ last five road games.
• Brendan Donovan has recorded at least one total base in each of his last 10 appearances against NL opponents.
• Willson Contreras has scored at least one run in each of his last six appearances.

St. Louis Cardinals vs Chicago Cubs Prediction

I’ll probably stay with the Cubs, but it’s a toss-up. Imanaga took a rough loss versus the Twins back on May 29 with seven earned in 4.1 innings. Since then however, Imanaga is 1-0 with three earned runs in 11.0 total innings. As for Pallante, he’s coming off a solid start with 5.0 clean frames in a win over the Rockies.

On Friday the Cubs had a tough time against Gibson and the St. Louis pen. All was going well until the eighth inning among their own pitching staff. If Chicago can get the bats going Saturday I like an even series.