The NL Central is the division that keeps on giving, as we’ll be treated this Monday with the first season series between bitter rivals the Chicago Cubs and the St. Louis Cardinals.
Both clubs have been strong to start off this season, each making full use of their hard-hitting batters to win games. The first meeting of a three-game set this Monday will have Chicago’s John Lackey starting against his former team for the first time, so at least the pitching duel that evening won’t be “Lackey”-ing any intrigue whatsoever either.
Let’s find out more about this sizzling matchup below. Curious about what’s going on in the NBA Playoffs? Then check out our previews for Golden State vs. Houston and Oklahoma City vs. Dallas right after this.
The Chicago Cubs are sputtering a bit after a torrid start to their season. They were just shutout on Sunday by the Colorado Rockies, 2-0, and have now lost of two of their last three after going on a five-game winning tear.
Without its potent offense, Chicago’s pitchers have got to step up ASAP. All of the Cubs’ wins thus far had been won with four runs scored or more, and they’re currently second in the majors with an average of 6.45 runs scored per contest.
The Cubs will have John Lackey as Monday’s starter. Lackey has two wins under his belt already, but sports an unflattering 5.68 ERA. Maybe seeing familiar faces across the mound against his former team in the confines of St. Louis will have him pitch a gem that night, as he has an 11-4 record with a 2.03 ERA at Busch Stadium in his last two previous seasons with the Cards.
Another ex-Cardinal that’s also about to take the plate is outfielder Jason Heyward, who left St. Louis after just one season with the team last year, and has not found great success yet in his short Windy City stint to date.
Strangely enough, Heyward was one of only three batters that got a hit off the Rockies on Sunday to snap his own three-game hitless streak. He’s only hitting .205 this year with just nine hits to 11 strikeouts, but the 26-year-old lefty may be in for a big night this Monday, as his career-best numbers were attained last season when he was still with the Cardinals.
Betting on the St. Louis Cardinals
The St. Louis Cardinals have recently shown a sign of offensive regression too, but they still pulled off a close 4-3 victory over the Cincinnati Reds on Monday at that.
The four runs scored by St. Louis that day was, surprisingly, their lowest scoring output for the season. The team scored in double-figures in exactly a third of their games played so far this year, and no less than six runs in each of their last eight before Monday’s win. It goes without saying that the Cards are indeed the best offensive team in baseball right now.
Then again, not a lot of good things can be said about their pitching staff. Monday’s starter in Mike Leake has allowed four runs in each of his first two starts this 2016, but he does have a solid 9-2 record and 3.15 era in 19 lifetime starts against the Cubs.
If pitching remains a problem for St. Louis, at least its depth in the batting order continues to grow. Out-of-nowhere sensations like Jeremy Hazelbaker and Aledmys Diaz have made their marks early on, and backup catcher Eric Fryer has also gotten in on the act in place of Yadier Molina most recently. Fryer went 3-for-3 with a pair of RBIs on Monday, and is still hitting a perfect 6-for-6 this season.
St. Louis’ stalwart slugger, Matt Carpenter, also picked up his first homer of the year against the Reds yesterday to seemingly break out of his own little funk. Carpenter’s batting just .250 through 12 games with just 11 hits to 10 whiffs.
