Toronto Blue Jays vs St. Louis Cardinals Prediction, 3/30/2023 MLB Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Toronto Blue Jays vs St. Louis Cardinals

Date: Thursday, March 30, 2023

Location: Busch Stadium in St. Louis, MO

TV: Bally Sports Midwest

Odds/Point Spread: Toronto (+100) St. Louis (-120)

The Toronto Blue Jays (92-70 last year) are en route to Busch Stadium on Thursday where they will meet the St. Louis Cardinals (93-69 last season). The line on this contest has the Blue Jays at +100 and the Cardinals are sitting at -120. The total comes in at 7.5. The expected starting pitchers are Alek Manoah and Miles Mikolas.

As a unit, the Toronto Blue Jays scored 4.8 runs per game, which was 4th in MLB. They notched a total of 775 runs scored while holding a team OBP of .329. The Blue Jays hit 307 two-baggers as a team and hit 200 baseballs out of the park. They accounted for 756 runs batted in in addition to 1,464 base knocks last year, and their average at the plate finished at .264. Toronto owned a slugging percentage of .431 and were rung up 1,242 times, while being walked on 500 occasions.

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Blue Jays pitchers conceded 180 home runs and 679 runs in total (13th in the league). Their pitching staff walked 424 opposing players and their FIP finished at 3.85 as a unit last season. Their strikeout to walk ratio was 3.28 and their pitching staff had a team WHIP of 1.24. The Blue Jays had an ERA of 3.87 in the prior season (15th in the league), and their staff struck out 1,390 hitters.

The Blue Jays had sent 585 relief pitchers to the mound in the prior season. The bullpen inherited 246 runners during the previous year with 24.8% of those runners earned a run for their team. They compiled 46 saves over the course of last season and blew 27 out of their 73 save opportunities. The Blue Jays relievers had a save rate of 63.0% and entered the game in 170 save situations. The bullpen notched 94 holds during the previous year (8th in baseball). Blue Jays relief pitchers entered the game with runners on base 161 times in addition to having 182 outings in high leverage situations.

The Toronto Blue Jays had a total of 4,324 putouts over the course of last year, as well as 1,348 assists and 82 errors. Their fielding rate was previously at .986 which put them in 11th in baseball, and had a total of 120 double plays. The Blue Jays converted 69.1% of balls hit into play into outs out of their 12,972 innings, which had them ranked 20th in the majors.

Manoah has taken the hill for 308 innings and is sitting with 307 K's in his career. His ERA is 2.60 (89 ER's allowed) and he has a career WHIP of 1.012. He has surrendered 221 base hits (6.5 hits per nine innings) and has had 91 walks. Manoah (25-9 career mark) holds a FIP of 3.51 while he has gone up against 1,245 opposing batters in the major leagues.

The St. Louis Cardinals had an on-base percentage of .325 in addition to a team batting average of .252 over the course of last year. They were called out on strikes on 1,226 instances (26th in the league) and notched a total of 1,386 base knocks. St. Louis accumulated 197 home runs during the previous year in addition to 739 runs batted in. The Cardinals had a slugging percentage of .420 and they scored 4.77 runs per game (6th in MLB). They recorded 290 doubles, while getting a free base 537 times as well as notching 772 runs.

The St. Louis pitching staff conceded 637 runs over the course of last year while having an ERA of 3.79 (605 earned runs conceded). They allowed 146 home runs and they yielded 3.99 runs per 9 innings (9th in the league). The Cardinals had a team WHIP of 1.271 and had a FIP of 3.94 as a team in the previous season. They had a strikeout to walk ratio of 2.41 (1,177 strikeouts against 489 bases on balls). They finished at 16th in the league as a staff in total hits relinquished with 1,335.

St. Louis had relief pitchers take the mound in 54 save opportunities and they came away with 37 saves. They were ranked 10th in the league with a save percentage of 68.5%, and they dispatched 466 relievers onto the diamond last season. Their bullpen pitchers stepped onto the mound 133 times in high leverage situations in addition to 158 occasions with runners on base. St. Louis relief pitchers had an inherited score rate of 34.0% out of 241 inherited base runners. Wrapping up the year with 121 save situations, the Cardinals earned 67 holds and 17 blown saves.

In their 12,921 innings on the field, the Cardinals accumulated a defensive efficiency of 70.2% (11th in MLB). St. Louis Cardinals twisted 181 double plays and had a fielding rate of .989 (1st in the majors). The Cardinals had 1,701 assists, 66 errors and had a total of 4,307 putouts over the course of last season.

In his career, Mikolas has conceded 688 hits and he has 536 K's in 723 innings pitched. Mikolas (45-40 career record) has a 3.70 ERA and has allowed 8.6 hits per nine innings. He has conceded a total of 297 ER's while holding a WHIP of 1.152 and a FIP of 4.0. His strikeout to walk ratio is 3.70 and he has faced 2,969 hitters so far in his career.

Who will win tonight's MLB game against the spread or moneyline?

Tony Sink's Pick: Take St. Louis (-120)

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