Game of the Week: April 11: STL @ CHC

[Commissioner Erick]

St. Louis Cardinals (0-0) at Chicago Cubs (0-0)


STL: Dallas Keuchel (0-0, 0.00)
CHC: Steven Matz (0-0, 0.00)


Players to Watch

Cardinals


1) 3B—Josh Donaldson:

Donaldson will be focal to St. Louis this season, and especially today against a top left-hander like Steve Matz. The Cardinals will need Donaldson to repeat the .277 average and 38 home runs he had last year to fulfill their playoff dreams. Donaldson has a career .979 OPS against lefties. He batted for a .969 OPS last year against them, with more walks than strikeouts. He's hammered Matz in his career, going 7-16 with two home runs lifetime.


2) C—Jeremy Martinez:

It's unlikely Martinez will feature prominently in this game, as the backup catcher has just 124 at bats lifetime in his major league career. He's very patient at the plate and has a wonderful personality, which makes his pitchers comfortable throwing to him. There's not much competition for the backup catcher spot in St. Louis, so even though Martinez is probably a sub-par backup because of his defensive limitations, he'll probably stay on the roster by default.


3) RP—Justin Wilson:

After a strong career with Toronto and Pittsburgh, Wilson really scuffled in his first season in St. Louis. Signed to a three-year contract at roughly $7 million per, Wilson was replacement level last season. The culprit was an alarming spike in his walk rate as Wilson walked 51 in 63.1 innings. Scouts don't see a reason for why Wilson's walk rate spiked, so the Cardinals are hoping it's just an aberration. The change mostly affected Wilson against righties, as he walked and many as he struck out last season, helping inflate his OPS against to over 1.000. Wilson never had a year where righties were over .700. He was still light's out against lefties though, as they've never had higher than a .626 OPS against, making him an outstanding specialist at worst.


Cubs


1) SP—Steven Matz:

Perennially one of the best pitchers in the American League, the former World Series Champion and last year's strikeout king was signed to help take Chicago over the hump. The Cubs have had one of the best collections of talent the PBA has seen since 2017, yet have one pennant and no titles to show for it. A three-pitch maestro, with a gorgeous curveball, Matz is always a threat to strike out 12 batters in 7 innings and not crack a sweat. Most of the Cardinals best hitters are lefties, and he's handled Addison Russell well in the past. If he can avoid too much trouble from Donaldson, the Cubs could start the season off on the right foot.


2) RF—Steven Souza Jr.:

The Former Rockies corner outfielder, Souza Jr. will likely spell Darryl Wilson in center field against lefties, as he's expected to do today. Souza's excelled against lefties in four of his five seasons, with an .849 career OPS. He also has an amazing 7-11 for average against expected starter Dallas Keuchel. The concern will be on defense. Souza has just 16 career starts in center field and none since 2019. Scouts don't love his ability to play out their either. The Cubs will have decent outfielders flanking Souza in Kris Bryant and Giancarlo Stanton, but his bat will need to outplay his defense. Even with his limiations, he's contribute to a lineup that will terrorize lefties.


3) RP—Jose de Leon:

Once traded for Steven Matz, de Leon has excelled in international ball, but he stagnated with the Mets, leading to him being traded to the Reds, then waived five times over the span of a year, including twice by the Mets who claimed him after trading him away. De Leon struggled with the Mets and Giants last season, but he still has the pedigree of the #22 prospect, and he still looked electric for Puerto Rico's National Team, where he has a 2.00 career ERA. Chicago will take a chance on him as a long man and a reliever and see what they have.

[Commissioner Erick]

Cubs 9 - Cardinals 1


WP: S. Matz (1-0)
LP: D. Kuechel (0-1)


Cardinals

1) 3B—Josh Donaldson: 0-4, 1K

Donaldson went 0-3 off Steven Matz, striking out once, and grounding out to short the other two times. He hit the ball hard on his first ground out but Francisco Lindor made a spectacular play to retire him. Donaldson then faced Jose de Leon with a man on in the eighth. He again hit the ball hard, but again was thwarted by Lindor. Defensively, Steven Souza Jr. ripped a single past him. A rough day for Donaldson and the Cardinals.

Donaldson had a huge Tuesday with a critical three-run home run to tie the game in the eighth inning off Bonkers Carrizales. He went 1-5 on Wednesday, though the Cardinals won. On Friday, Donaldson walked twice and was hit by a pitch, but Joc Pederson struggled with men on base, stranding Donaldson every time in a 4-3 loss in Cincinnati. Donaldson went 0-4 with two strikeouts in a brutal performance on Saturday, a game the Cards dropped 2-1. Donaldson walked twice on Sunday as the Cards won 2-1. Donaldson wasn't given too many chances to prosper and spent most of the week walking, striking out, or getting thrown out by Francisco Lindor. He'll need to be better for St. Louis' offense to take off, though his home run on Tuesday was massive. Defensively, Donaldson had a good week and now has 0.4 zone rating.


2) C—Jeremy Martinez: BB

Came on late with the Cardinals getting blown out, pinch hitting for Nick Pratto and drawing a walk.

Martinez started Friday and went 1-4. He had a chance to drive in the tying run with two outs in the sixth, grounding out to end his chance.


3) RP—Justin Wilson: 1.2 IP, 0 R, 3 H, 2 K

Wilson entered with the Cardinals down 8-1 and a man on first in the seventh inning. He allowed a hard-hit single to Xander Bogaerts, got a fielder's choice and a strikeout, but allowed a single to Souza to make it 9-1. He fanned Francisco Lindor after allowing two hits in five at bats to the righties he faced. In the eighth, he got Alex Bregman to pop out, before Freddie Freeman pulled a one-out single. Wilson got Kris Bryant to hit into a fielder's choice before getting pulled. Matt Bowman didn't allow his inherited run to score.

Wilson pitched a scoreless inning Tuesday, striking out Freeman and Bryant in an impressive outing. On Saturday, he pitched a perfect 1.1 against the Reds. He's mostly come on in the middle innings and has not been a specialist, making his outings against righties extra important. After being plagued by walks last year, he only walked one in 4.0 frames this week.


Cubs

1) SP—Steven Matz: 7.2 IP, 1 R, 4 H, 1 BB, 10 K (W)

Matz was dazzling on Monday with his electric stuff resulting in 10 strikeouts. Of his four hits, three were ground singles, and righties went just 2-13 off him. Given an early lead, he was on cruise control most of the game, but still showed why he's a Cy Young candidate.

He followed that up with a start on Sunday in Coors Field where he went 7 innings, allowed one hit, and one walk in a no decision. For the week, he put up a 1-0 record with two walks, 17 strikeouts, and just five hits allowed in 14.2 spectacular innings.


2) RF—Steven Souza Jr.: 1-4, RBI

Souza started in center, but when Dallas Keuchel was pulled due to injury, Souza ended up taking most of his at bats against righties. He faced a left-hander in the eighth and pulled a grounder for an RBI single to make it 9-1. Defensively, Souza didn't have a chance to make a play until a ball was dumped in front of him in the ninth.

Souza also started on Friday and went 0-3 with a walk and a pair of strikeouts, including one with two on and two outs against Patrick Corbin in the sixth that could have made a difference in a 4-3 loss.


3) RP—Jose de Leon: 1.1 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 1 BB, 3 K

De Leon finished up the blowout and struck out three batters, showing off some terrific stuff. He walked a batter and allowed some cheap hits, but the stuff did look strong.

De Leon struck out four in the series finale over 1.2 innings, giving up three hits. He once again struck out four batters to prevent too much trouble, but he gave up a pair of extra base hits and a run. On Saturday, he allowed three hits and two walks in the fourth inning, yielding two runs and needing a strikeout to prevent more. He pitched a scoreless second inning, but the trend of giving up a bunch of baserunners and not striking enough batters out to compensate continued.