New York Yankees at St. Louis Cardinals 3/23/23
The St. Louis Cardinals host the New York Yankees for a Spring Training game at 1:05 p.m. ET on Thursday 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 Steven Matz for the Cardinals and Nestor Cortes Jr. for the Yankees.
Matz has pitched in three Grapefruit League games this season with two starts. He is 2-0 with a 1.54 ERA and 0.86 WHIP over 11.2 innings. Matz has allowed seven hits, walked three batters and struck out 12. The 32-year-old lefty appeared in just 15 games in his first season with the Cardinals because of injury. Matz started 10 games but pitched in the bullpen when he returned late in the season. He had a 5.25 ERA and 1.25 WHIP with 54 strikeouts and 10 walks over 48 innings.
Cortes has pitched in just one game this spring, going 3.1 innings and allowing five earned runs with three hits and three walks. He gave up two home runs and struck out four batters. Cortes intended to pitch for Team USA in the World Baseball Classic but has been dealing with a hamstring injury. The 28-year-old lefty started 28 games for New York last season, going 12-4 with a 2.44 ERA and 0.92 WHIP. He struck out 163 batters and walked 38 in 158.1 innings.
Jordan Walker leads the Cardinals with 57 at bats this spring. He has hit .316 with a .328 on-base percentage and .561 slugging percentage. He has three home runs and two stolen bases. Brendan Donovan has four homers in 47 ABs with a team-leading OPS of .969.
Jasson Dominguez and Andres Chaparro lead the Yankees with four HRs this spring. Dominguez has 22 ABs in 11 games with a .455 batting average, .520 OBP and 1.045 SLG. Aaron Judge has 10 hits with one HR and six doubles in 29 at bats.
St. Louis has the best record in the Grapefruit League at 14-6, two games ahead of Atlanta and Toronto. The Cardinals have scored 181 runs and given up 87. The Yankees are 10-15, tied with the Mets 6.5 games behind St. Louis and two games in front of last-place Miami. The Yankees have scored 134 and given up 137. When Cortes is right, he’s one of the best pitchers in baseball, but he is behind because of injury, and Matz has been dealing this spring. St. Louis has been playing to win and should do so again Thursday. Final Score Prediction: St. Louis wins 7-4.
