Cardinals vs Phillies Odds: Can Phillies Continue Second Half Dominance?

The Philadelphia Phillies will take on the St. Louis Cardinals in a three-game series throughout the weekend. The Phillies lead the NL Wild Card but likely won’t come near first place in the NL East.

Still, a top finish in the NL Wild Card would give the Phillies another playoff opportunity. The Phillies finished last season with an NL Wild Card spot, which worked well for them. Philadelphia won the NLCS and made it into the World Series last season.

They’ll look to continue their second-half dominance against a St. Louis Cardinals team that has plummeted down the MLB standings 2023.

Can the Phillies earn another series win over the weekend?

Here’s a look at the Cardinals vs Phillies odds for the weekend series.

Bryce Harper’s Limited With Back Issue

Don’t worry, Phillies fans, Bryce Harper will be in the lineup for the Phillies this weekend.

But he’s been limited to designated hitter duty due to a nagging back issue. Harper had initially been playing first base because of back stiffness when he returned to the lineup for the Phillies after Tommy John surgery. But now he can’t even do that.

The Phillies didn’t rule out Harper playing in the field this weekend. However, as of now, it seems unlikely.

Harper will likely add his 300th home run this season. He’s currently at 296 career home runs and is quickly approaching that 300 milestone. Harper has said that he wishes his entire career was with Philadelphia. He’s undoubtedly enjoying his time with the Phillies.

Meanwhile, his injury and injury history is a little bit problematic. It’s unclear how long of a career he’ll have with Philadelphia. Still, he’s producing at a high level despite being uncomfortable.

With that 300-home run milestone expected soon, it’s easy to think that Harper will be inducted into the Hall of Fame one day. If he earned 400 home runs, he’d be in a club exclusively with about 60 MLB players. If his health is good, Harper has the potential to earn at least 200 more home runs. That would put him in a club with about 30 players. He would be one of the league’s most outstanding MLB stats leaders.

The Phillies hope that Harper can get back to full health eventually.

It Won’t Get Better for St. Louis!

The St. Louis Cardinals have dropped countless games to teams that won’t make the playoffs.

You can only imagine how they will fare against top teams in the MLB.

We’re about to find out.

The Cardinals will face the Phillies and Padres next week. They’ll also have a series against the Braves, Orioles, and the Braves and Reds.

Things are about to get extremely ugly for St. Louis. This would be the first losing season for the Cardinals since 2007.

We wouldn’t say that the Cardinals are in a rebuild. Things just went wrong this year. With Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado still active and honoring their contracts, the Cardinals can flip the switch easily in 2024 if they choose.

Let’s look at the probable pitchers and Cardinals vs Phillies odds for the weekend series.

Miles Mikolas will start the series off with a start for the Cardinals. He’s a right-hander, allowing lefties to hit a .216 ISO and wOBA of .343 against his last 53 lefties. Mikolas isn’t a high strikeout thrower, but he has limited walks and has earned over 44% of grounders.

Mikolas will face Cristopher Sanchez of the Phillies. He’s the lone lefty for the Phillies in this series. Sanchez has thrown 87.2 pitches per start in the last month. He’s also struck out 24.1% of batters while walking just 5.2% of batters in the previous 30 days.

However, the lefty has allowed a .222 ISO and wOBA of .338 to his last 98 righties. The Cardinals have some potential to score runs with their right-handed bats. Tyler O’Neill, Tommy Edman, Alec Burleson, Paul Goldschmidt, and Andrew Knizner have all hit for high ISO against lefties in the last 30 days.

On the other hand, the Phillies have hit a .230 ISO and wOBA of .372 collectively against right-handed pitchers. Only Alec Bohm and JT Realmuto have hit an ISO below .197 against righties in that span.

With that said, the Cardinals vs Phillies odds for Game 1 have the Phillies favored at home at -148. Meanwhile, the Cardinals are sitting at +124, with the total at 9.5, with the over and under at -110. However, in my eyes, the Over is more likely to hit than the Under.

Game 2 will be Dakota Hudson on the mound for St. Louis. Hudson’s a right-handed pitcher, struggling more against righties. He’s allowed a .245 ISO and wOBA of .374 to his last 55 righties. However, lefties only hit a .117 ISO and wOBA of .307 in the previous 30 days.

Still, Hudson has earned nearly 60% of ground balls and has limited line drives to under 15% in the last 30 days. He’s been solid despite his low strikeout numbers.

Conversely, the Cardinals have also done well against righties over the last month. It’s the same bunch of guys performing, including Edman, Burleson, Nolan Arenado, Willson Contreras, and Knizner.

Those St. Louis bats will face Zack Wheeler of the Phillies. Wheeler has held teams to a .124 ISO and wOBA of .262 over the last 30 days. Lefties have had a little bit of success. But he has been above average in limiting fly balls and line drives and has also been above average at inducing ground balls in the last 30 days.

It’ll be a typical start Sunday, like most MLB game times. The game is scheduled for 1:35 p.m. ET in the day.

Drew Rom has a 14.73 ERA after one start with the Cardinals. It probably can’t get any worse than that. He struck out three of five lefties but allowed a .188 ISO and wOBA of .486 to 18 righties. It’s a tiny sample size, but it doesn’t seem like he’s ready for the significant league level.

He’ll be the first lefty to face the Phillies in this series. Philadelphia hasn’t hit lefties as well as righties. But They’ve at least six batters hitting an ISO of at least .185. Philadelphia has hit plenty of extra-base hits that likely won’t stop against Rom.

Rom will face Aaron Nola of the Phillies. Nola has always been viewed as the ace of the Phillies’ staff. However, he’s allowed a .236 ISO and wOBA of .388 to his last 120 batters. I wouldn’t be surprised if this game went Over the total.

For MLB betting news, odds analysis, and more, visit Point Spreads Sports Magazine.

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