Cardinals Host Reds in Early-June Division Test at Busch Stadium
The Cardinal Chronicle
St. Louis, MO
By Ray Mileur
Cardinals Host Reds in Early-June Division Test at Busch Stadium
The St. Louis Cardinals head into this weekend with a chance to steady themselves in the middle of a crowded National League Central race.
St. Louis enters Friday night at 32-28, hosting a Cincinnati Reds club sitting at 31-30. That one-game difference gives this three-game series more weight than a typical early-June set. It is not September baseball yet, but it has the feel of a weekend that can begin to separate contenders from clubs still searching for traction.
The Cardinals avoided a sweep against Texas on Wednesday with a 5-3 win, powered by Alec Burleson’s three RBIs, Jordan Walker’s three-hit night and Andre Pallante’s strong start. Riley O’Brien closed it down for his 15th save, giving St. Louis at least a little momentum after a rough stretch. (Reuters)
Now comes Cincinnati, a division rival with dangerous bats, uneven starting pitching and a bullpen that has already been forced to adjust after injuries to key arms, including Graham Ashcraft and Emilio Pagán. (Red Reporter)
Weekend Series Schedule
Friday, June 5 — 7:15 p.m. CT
Cincinnati Reds at St. Louis Cardinals
RHP Brady Singer, 2-5, 6.18 ERA, 36 SO vs. RHP Kyle Leahy, 5-3, 4.25 ERA, 46 SO
TV: Cardinals.TV / Reds.TV
Promotion: Cardinals Bucket Hat, presented by QuikTrip, for 15,000 fans age 13 and older. Friday Night Live and Pride Night are also scheduled. (MLB.com)
Saturday, June 6 — 1:15 p.m. CT
Cincinnati Reds at St. Louis Cardinals
LHP Nick Lodolo, 2-1, 5.20 ERA, 22 SO vs. LHP Matthew Liberatore, 3-3, 4.35 ERA, 57 SO
TV: Cardinals.TV / Reds.TV
Promotion: Jim Edmonds Bobblehead, presented by Ford, for 15,000 fans age 13 and older. (MLB.com)
Sunday, June 7 — 1:15 p.m. CT
Cincinnati Reds at St. Louis Cardinals
RHP Rhett Lowder, 3-3, 5.40 ERA, 27 SO vs. RHP Michael McGreevy, 3-5, 2.98 ERA, 44 SO
TV: Cardinals.TV / Reds.TV
Promotion: Kids Rawlings Baseball Glove, presented by Rawlings, for 10,000 kids age 12 and under. Kids Sunday festivities are also scheduled. (MLB.com)
The series opens with Kyle Leahy looking to set the tone against Brady Singer, who has struggled to find consistency for Cincinnati. Singer enters at 2-5 with a 6.18 ERA and a 1.69 WHIP across 51 innings, numbers that invite the Cardinals to work counts, avoid chasing and force Cincinnati into its bullpen early. (MLB.com)
For St. Louis, Leahy does not need to be overpowering. He needs to be efficient. Against a Cincinnati lineup with enough power to flip a game quickly, the assignment is simple enough in theory and difficult enough in practice: keep the ball in the yard, limit free passes and make the Reds earn their damage one base at a time.
Saturday’s matchup brings a left-on-left pairing with Nick Lodolo against Matthew Liberatore. Liberatore’s season has had its uneven moments, but he remains one of the more important arms in the Cardinals’ rotation because of his ability to cover innings and change looks against a lineup. Cincinnati will counter with Lodolo, who has swing-and-miss ability but has also carried a 5.20 ERA into the weekend.
Sunday may bring the most intriguing matchup of the series. Michael McGreevy gets the ball for St. Louis with a 2.98 ERA, continuing to give the Cardinals the kind of old-fashioned, pitch-to-the-plan reliability that still plays. In a game increasingly obsessed with velocity readings and chase metrics, McGreevy has offered a reminder that location, tempo and conviction still count.
The Cardinals continue to lean on Jordan Walker as the centerpiece of their offense. Walker enters the weekend batting .291 with 15 home runs, 44 RBIs and an .892 OPS, giving St. Louis the middle-of-the-order presence it badly needed. (
Walker’s three-hit game against Texas was another sign of his growing impact. He has become more than just a power threat. He is giving the Cardinals quality at-bats, pressure on the bases and a more mature offensive profile than the one that arrived with all the prospect hype attached.
The Cardinals will also need continued production from Alec Burleson, Ivan Herrera, Nelson Velázquez and the lower half of the order. Against Cincinnati, the opportunity is there. Singer and Lowder both enter with ERAs north of five, and Lodolo has not been dominant enough to allow St. Louis to simply wait around for a mistake.
Cincinnati’s lineup is not one the Cardinals can treat casually. Sal Stewart has been one of the bright young bats in the league, entering the series with 12 doubles, 12 home runs and 37 RBIs. He also earned National League Rookie of the Month honors in April, giving the Reds another legitimate young building block in the middle of their lineup.
JJ Bleday may be the hotter bat to watch. MLB named Bleday the National League Player of the Month for May after a month in which he hit .301 with eight home runs, 25 RBIs and a 1.018 OPS. That is not a small heater. That is a man walking into Busch Stadium with the barrel finding baseballs.
The Reds have also had to adjust on the fly, including a recent roster move that brought Noelvi Marte back from Triple-A Louisville while TJ Friedl was optioned out. That gives Cincinnati another athletic piece to sort through as it tries to stabilize the lineup.
The Cardinals do not need a masterpiece this weekend. They need cleaner baseball.
That means early strikes from the rotation, fewer empty at-bats with runners in scoring position and enough pressure on Cincinnati’s starters to keep the Reds from handing late leads to their best relief options. The path is not complicated. It rarely is. The hard part is doing it for nine innings, three days in a row.
St. Louis has spent the last couple weeks looking like a team trying to hold onto its footing. The win over Texas helped stop the bleeding, but this weekend is a better measuring stick. The Reds are close in the standings. They are a division opponent. They have enough offensive firepower to punish mistakes.
For the Cardinals, this is the kind of series that can quietly matter later.
Win it, and St. Louis creates a little breathing room while keeping pressure on the teams above them. Drop it, and Cincinnati leaves town having climbed right into the Cardinals’ lane.
It is still early June, but in the National League Central, early June already feels crowded.
The Cardinals have three games at Busch Stadium to make sure the Reds remain the team doing the chasing.
The Cardinal Chronicle, in association with the Cardinal Chronicle
Preserving the Past, Promoting the Present, and Projecting the Future.
Check out The Cardinal Chronicle for more St. Louis Cardinals coverage, daily farm reports, prospect updates and old-school baseball commentary:
www.cardinalchronicle.com
Graphic: Cardinal Chronicle