Minnesota Twins vs St. Louis Cardinals Prediction 3/27/25 MLB Picks
St. Louis Cardinals (0-0) vs Minnesota Twins (0-0)
Game Info: Thursday, March 27, 2025 at 4:15 pm (Busch Stadium)
Pablo Lopez (R) vs Sonny Gray (R)
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Where to Watch: FanDuel SN MW
The Minnesota Twins and the St. Louis Cardinals meet on Thursday in MLB action from Busch Stadium. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best bets for this game. Here’s a Minnesota Twins vs. St. Louis Cardinals prediction.
Starting Pitching Matchup
The Minnesota Twins will send out Pablo Lopez for the start here, and Lopez was 15-10 with a 4.08 ERA and 198 strikeouts last season. In his career, Lopez is 3-2 with a 2.33 ERA and 39 strikeouts against the Cardinals. The St. Louis Cardinals will send out Sonny Gray for the start here, and Gray was 13-9 with a 3.84 ERA and 203 strikeouts last season. In his career, Gray is 2-5 with a 5.36 ERA and 40 strikeouts against the Twins.
Minnesota Twins Team Preview
The Minnesota Twins come into the 2025 season off of a frustrating 2024 season, finishing the year 82-80, failing to follow up their division title from 2023, and missing the playoffs for the third time in the last four seasons. This is still a lineup that’s anchored by Byron Buxton, but injuries have meant that missed time is almost a guarantee for Buxton at some point throughout the year, so Harrison Bader was brought in as an insurance policy alongside Trevor Larnach. Ty France was also brought in to shore up the infield for Minnesota, with Carlos Santana and Max Kepler departing in the offseason. If Buxton, Carlos Correa, and Royce Lewis can maintain health throughout the year, this Twins team could be one to watch, especially with a solid bullpen and a quality rotation led by the likes of the aforementioned Lopez, Joe Ryan, and Bailey Ober. I think the sky is the limit in a wide-open AL Central in 2025 for the Twins. The Twins will take on the White Sox after this series.
Why the Minnesota Twins will win
- The Cardinals have lost each of their last seven Thursday home games against American League opponents.
- The Twins have won five of their last six road openers.
- The Twins have covered the run line in eight of their last nine season openers.
- The Cardinals have failed to cover the run line in six of their last seven home games against AL Central opponents.
Minnesota Twins Player Prop Facts
- Byron Buxton has hit at least one home run in four of his last seven appearances with the Twins as favorites against NL opponents.
- Carlos Correa has recorded a Double in three of his last four appearances with his team as a favorite in road openers.
- Byron Buxton has recorded at least one RBI in six of his last seven appearances with the Twins as favorites against NL opponents.
- Ryan Jeffers has scored a run in four of his last five appearances against the Cardinals.
- Pablo Lopez has recorded six or more strikeouts in seven of his last eight appearances with his team as a favorite against NL Central opponents.
- Jose Miranda has recorded at least one Single in each of his last seven Thursday day appearances.
- Carlos Correa has recorded at least one hit in each of his eight previous appearances in season openers.
- Pablo Lopez has recorded a win in each of his three previous appearances with his team as a favorite against the Cardinals.
St. Louis Cardinals Recap
The St. Louis Cardinals come into the 2025 season hoping to restore some success in 2025 after a couple of down seasons by Cardinals standards, following an abysmal 2023 where the Cards went 71-91; they rebounded by going 83-79 in 2024. The Cardinals still missed the playoffs in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 2016-18, though, and will have to re-tool going forward. The most notable absence from last year’s team is Paul Goldschmidt, who is now a Yankee, and it seems like Nolan Arenado could be on the way out at some point as well. Arenado is still a Cardinal for now, though, and is alongside a budding star in Masyn Winn. Willson Contreras assumes Goldy’s duties at first base, and familiar faces return in Lars Nootbaar, Brendan Donovan, Alec Burleson, and others. Gray is expected to be the ace of this Cardinals’ rotation, while mid-level arms like Erick Fedde, Andre Pallante, and Miles Mikolas are expected to fill out the rotation. Only time will tell if the Cardinals can rise to prominence again in the NL Central or if we’re just delaying the inevitable with the rebuild on the horizon.
Why the St. Louis Cardinals will win
- The Twins have lost seven of their last eight games as favorites.
- The underdogs have won each of the Twins' last four games.
- The Cardinals have covered the run line in each of their last six games as underdogs.
- The Twins have failed to cover the run line in 11 of their last 12 games as road favorites.
St. Louis Cardinals Player Prop Facts
- Alec Burleson has hit a home run in each of the Cardinals' last two home games against the Twins.
- Masyn Winn has recorded a Double in four of his last five appearances.
- Masyn Winn has scored at least one run in each of his last seven appearances.
- Nolan Arenado has recorded at least one RBI in each of the Cardinals' last four home openers.
- Sonny Gray has recorded six or more strikeouts in each of his last eight appearances against AL opponents.
- Nolan Arenado has recorded at least one Single in each of the Cardinals' last seven games against AL Central opponents.
- Nolan Arenado has recorded at least one hit in each of his last 10 appearances in home openers.
- Sonny Gray has recorded a win in five of his last six appearances against AL opponents.
Total Runs Facts
- Each of the Twins' last five road games against National League opponents have gone OVER the total runs line.
- Each of the Cardinals' last four games as underdogs against the Twins have gone UNDER the total runs line.
Minnesota Twins vs. St. Louis Cardinals Prediction
I’m on the Twins here. I just think that the Twins are the better team right now and that Lopez has the much higher upside in this matchup. Gray didn’t look good in his spring training; his velocity was down, and the Cardinals are a team I have seen falling back to earth in 2025 after an improvement in 2024. The Twins should draw first blood on opening day, so give me the Twins in this one.
Chris’s Pick Minnesota Twins
AUTHOR: Chris Ruffolo

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