The Cardinals strengthened their pitching rotation after finishing last in the National League Central Division, but find themselves back in last place during a weekend series against the New York Mets.
Much of the waste can be attributed to an aging batting lineup that has struggled to put the ball in play, but the pitching staff has at least taken a step in the right direction.
Sonny Gray plays against the Mets on Saturday afternoon. His tenure with the Cardinals began as an early hunch on the National League Cy Young radar.
He has pitched nothing short of admirable through his three starts, striking out 11.9 batters per nine innings and projecting a 1.63 ERA.
Gray’s breaking ball is extremely difficult to hit. His cutter has a 100% put-away rate when the batter is in the hole.
The three-time All-Star has given up one walk in 17¹/₃ innings and should pose a challenge to a Mets lineup that has made strides in getting on base.
Adrian Houser is looking to bounce back from a nightmarish loss to the Dodgers in which he gave up eight runs in four innings.
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His erratic performance resulted in a -7 run value and left some upside for a hungry Cardinals lineup that quietly has an above-average wRC+.
Gray is 3-0 with a 2.60 ERA against the Mets. I think he’s in a good position to further improve on those numbers here.
play: Cardinals (-134, FanDuel Sportsbook)
