Miami Marlins at St. Louis Cardinals 3/20/23

The Miami Marlins visit the St. Louis Cardinals for a Spring Training game Monday at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium in Jupiter, Fla. First pitch is scheduled for 1:05 p.m. ET. The starting pitchers are scheduled to be Johnny Cueto for the Marlins and Jake Woodford for the Cardinals.

Cueto is back with the Marlins after pitching for the Dominican Republic in the World Baseball Classic. He gave up three runs in two innings against Puerto Rico on Wednesday. Cueto faced the Cardinals earlier in Spring Training and was tagged for five runs in two innings. Cueto signed with the Marlins this offseason after turning in a solid 2022 seas for the White Sox. He started 24 games for Chicago last season and went 8-10 with a 3.35 ERA and 1.23 WHIP over 158.1 innings.

Woodford appeared in 27 games for St. Louis last season, making one start. He was 4-0 with a 2.23 ERA and 1.12 WHIP in 48.1 innings. Woodford struck out 24 batters and walked 11. The former first-round pick is in his four season with the big club. Woodford has picked up this spring where he left off in 2022 by pitching 12.2 innings over four games and 12.2 innings with a 2.84 ERA and 0.95 WHIP. He started against the Yankees his last time out and pitched four scoreless innings.

St. Louis won the National League Central last season by seven games with a 93-69. The Cardinals did last long in the playoffs, losing 2-0 in the Wild Card round to the Phillies. Miami finished fourth in the NL East at 69-93, 32 games behind the Braves and Mets. The Marlins missed the playoffs by 18 games.

St. Louis has the best record in the Grapefruit League at 13-6, a game ahead of Boston. The Cardinals have scored 112 runs and given up 83. Miami is in last place, half a game behind Pittsburgh with a record of 6-13. The Marlins have scored a paltry 63 runs and given up 118. Their 63 runs scored is 22 behind the next closest team’s total. St. Louis should have little trouble with the Marlins. Final Score Prediction,St. Louis wins 7-2.