ST. LOUIS CARDINALS NOTES:
COASTAL CARDS: The St. Louis Cardinals and San Francisco Giants wrap up a four-game series at Oracle Park this afternoon as St. Lois continues its season-long 11-day, 10-game road trip along the Pacific coast through Seattle (1-2), San Francisco (0-3), and Los Angeles Dodgers (April 28-30) … Since the Padres joined MLB as an expansion team in 1969, this marks just the 13th road trip in the Cardinals history to feature 10 or more games across three cities on the Pacific coast, but first involving an AL team.
FLIGHT PATTERN: St. Louis enters today tied for 5th place in the NL Central, 8.0 games behind first place Pittsburgh … Today’s game is the 10th of 16 straight against opponents from the NL and AL West Divisions (St. Louis is 67-59 combined vs. both West Divisions since 2019).
SAN FRANCISCO SWEEPSTAKES: With a win today, St. Louis would avoid its second sweep of the season (April 3-5 vs. Atlanta) and only their third four-game series sweep to the Giants since the team moved to San Francisco in 1958 (May 12-14, 1978 and July 24-26, 1987, both at Candlestick Park) … The Cardinals were swept in four-game series by the New York Giants 10 times from 1905-20 … The last time St. Louis was swept by any opponent in a four-game series was by Cincinnati from June 3-6, 2021 at Busch Stadium.
THE CITY BY THE BAY: St. Louis and San Francisco are knotted up at 358-358 in the all-time series since the Giants moved from New York in 1958 …The Cardinals have won the season series over the Giants for seven straight seasons (2015-22).
CARDINALS REMEMBER DICK GROAT: The Cardinals are saddened over the passing of former All-Star shortstop Dick Groat, who passed away this morning at the age of 92 … Groat played three of his 14 seasons in St. Louis (1963-65), where he finished 2nd in the 1963 MVP voting and was a member of the 1964 World Series Championship team … Our deepest sympathies go out to his family and friends.
THE GOLDY STATE: With two homers and a double last night, Paul Goldschmidt has 44 extra-base hits in San Francisco (81 career games), tied with Ron Cey and Luis Gonzalez for the 2nd-most all-time by a visiting player since the Giants came to the City by the Bay in 1958; only Hank Aaron (51 in 147 career games) has more … Goldschmidt’s 15 career homers at Oracle Park are the most by an opponent in stadium history (2000-present), while Goldy has reached base safely in 28 straight games at Oracle Park since 2017, the longest active & tied for the 10th-longest in stadium history (Barry Bonds is 1st-3rd with 52, 50, and 44) … Among all players with at least 250 plate appearances at Oracle Park, Goldschmidt’s 1.021 OPS is second only to Bonds (1.289).
APRIL SHOWERS: Since MLB expanded to six divisions in 1994, the Cardinals have been in first or tied for first 11 times at the end of April in 28 seasons (excluding 2020) … Of the 17 seasons not in first place at the end of April, the Cardinals have appeared in seven postseasons (2022, 2021, 2014, 2004, 2002, 2001, 1996) … The largest deficit out of first at the end of the month was 6.0 games in 2016 to Chicago, with St. Louis being eliminated from postseason on the final day of the season … The furthest the Cards have been out of 1st place and still made the postseason was 2014, sporting a 15-14 record and 5.5 games back of Milwaukee, before holding off Pittsburgh on the final day of the season to win the division at 90-72. …BRING MAY FLOWERS: The 2002 Cards began 12-14 in April before rebounding to go 18-10 in May and make the postseason … The 1985 Cards were 8-11 in April, then went 93-50 to end their regular season.
TODAY’S STARTING PITCHER: RHP MILES MIKOLAS (0-1, 7.46)
TODAY’S GAME
NL Ranks: Hits Allowed (41, 1st), Runs Allowed (22, T1st), ER allowed (21, 2nd), HR Allowed (6, T4th).
• The 2022 N.L. All-Star is making his team-high 6th start of 2023, 149th career appearance & 121st career start.
• Needs five outs for 750.0 career innings pitched. Ranks 2nd behind only Adam Wainwright (2,567.1 IP) in most innings pitched (657.0) as a Cardinal among actives.
• Will be making his fourth start, all with the Cardinals against the Giants. Has four relief appearances as a member of the Padres (2012-13).
• Among qualifiers, enters today with the highest ERA (7.46) and opponent BA (.366) in the National League.
• Is 0-0 with a 4.09 ERA in his last two starts with an opp. BA of .279, after beginning the season 0-1 with an 10.05 ERA and a .420 opp BA in his first three starts.
• Has not received more than three runs of support in any start this season. Ranks as 8th-lowest in run support average among N.L. qualifiers (3.20).
• Making his 4th day game start of the season (0-1, 7.20 ERA, 4 GS), but overall in his career, holds a 16-10 record with a 3.82 ERA in 41 starts (48 app.) under the sun.
• Has walked 118 batters over his first 110 starts with St. Louis. Among Cardinals starters in their first 110 starts with the franchise, only Bob Tewksbury (92) issued fewer.
• Has allowed seven of his 22 runs in the first inning (12.60 ERA).
• Was one of 10 MLB pitchers and two Cardinals (Wainwright) with a perfect 1.000 fielding pct. (31 total chances) in 2022. Hasn’t made an error since 8/2/18 vs. COL.
• Signed a two-year contract extension through 2025 on March 24.
LAST TIME OUT
• Carried a 3-1 lead into the 6th inning at SEA (4/22) before allowing two runs on a Teoscar Hernandez game-tying home run. Received a no decision after 5.1 innings allowing the three runs on a season-low five hits. Allowed multiple home runs for the second time this season.
DATE vs. RESULT DEC IP H R ER BB SO HR NP-S
4/22 @SEA L 5-4 ND 5.1 5 3 3 2 4 2 93-63
2023
• Allowed at least 5 runs and 9 hits in each of his first three starts – first pitcher in MLB to begin a season with three such starts since Alex Cobb (2018, BAL). Became the 16th pitcher in Cardinals history to start a season allowing five or more runs in his first three
starts and first since Brett Tomko (2003).
• Received a no decision on 4/11 at COL, departing the game after 5.0 IP and trailing 6-2 after allowing three HR’s tying his career-high. Tied his season-high with 10 hits allowed
• Recored his 500th career strikeout in the National League on Opening Day.
• Drew his 2nd career Opening Day start (3/30) and had a no-decision in the Cardinals 10-9 loss to Toronto that featured five lead changes.
• Was a 3-0 with 0.00 ERA in three Grapefruit League starts this season, allowing just one unearned run in his 12.0 IP. 123 of his 133 pitches thrown this spring were strikes
• Pitched for Team USA during World Baseball Classic, totaling 6.0 IP in two relief appearances, including a 4.0 inning stint in the American’s semi-final win over Cuba.
SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS NOTES:
TODAY’S GAME: The Giants can clinch their first series sweep of the season with a win today and have a chance to close out the homestand with a 6-2 record after dropping the first two games (Thursday & Friday) to the Mets…SF’s last four-game sweep of the Cardinals at home was on July 24-26, 1987.
HOW SWEEP IT IS: SF’s current five-game winning streak is their longest since also winning five in a row from Sept. 25-30 of last season…SF’s longest winning streak last year was six games, done on May 7-13…the Giants are averaging 5.6 runs while allowing an average of 3.0 runs over this current game streak.
J.D…JUST DESSERTS?: Today is the 30th birthday of IF J.D. Davis…Davis is a .314 hitter with 11 home runs, 31 RBI and a monthly-best .922 OPS in 76 career April games….Davis has 16 RBI this month, his second-most behind the 18 he had in August of 2019 with New York-NL…the Oracle Park-era RBI record by an infielder in March/April is 22, shared by Pedro Feliz (2005), Jeff Kent (2000) and Pablo Sandoval (2013)…coincidentally, today is also Feliz’ 48th birthday.
RIGHT SIDE OF THE BED: Despite winning three-straight against lefty starters, the Giants will gladly take a righty this afternoon…SF has the second best OPS (.814) and third most home runs (29) against right-handers.
PUSH TO START: SF starters have allowed just two earned runs in 16.1 innings in this series…in this five-game win streak, Giants starters have posted a 2.03 ERA (6er, 26.2ip), walked four and struck out 21 batters…they’ve issued two free passes in 16.1 innings over their last three games.
KEEP IT LOW: Giants and Cardinals pitchers have been excellent at keeping the ball on the ground…per SIS, the Giants have turned 79% of ground balls during this five-game winning streak into outs.
Ground Ball Rate Leaders – MLB
Team Ground ball rate
Giants 50.0%
Rays 47.7%
Cardinals 46.1%
Team Ground ball rate
Mariners 45.8%
Padres 45.5%
Braves 45.2%
…OR ELSE: When the Giants and Cardinals do surrender fly balls, however, the ball goes far…SF leads the Majors with 16.8% of fly balls going for home runs, with St. Louis coming at second with a 16.1% HR/FB.
LOGAN LUCKY: One of those burned by the longball this season has been today’s starter, RHP Logan Webb…after having a career-best 0.51 home runs per nine innings last season, he has allowed six in 30.2 frames (1.76 HR/9)…Webb is coming off his best start of the season, striking out eight while allowing two runs on a walk and five hits (one being a home run)…in four career starts vs. St. Louis, Webb is 2-1 with a 6.62 ERA and .800 opposing OPS in 17.2 innings.
SEE YOU LATER: The Giants are 7-6 in day games this season with a +11 run differential…in getaway day games, the Giants are 4-1 with a +10 run differential.
PLATOON SHMATOON: OF LaMonte Wade Jr. lined his first career home run off a left-hander (LHP Steven Matz) yesterday, and added an RBI triple…Wade was originally scheduled to sit with a lefty on the mound, but was forced into the lineup when OF Mike Yastrzemski was scratched with a tight left side…Wade entered the season a .103 hitter with two extra-base hits and a .312 OPS vs. lefties (89 plate appearances)…he is batting .231 with two extra-base hits and an .872 OPS this season (16 plate appearances)…among players with at least 80 plate appearances, Wade is first with a 21.3 walk percentage, and sixth with a .430 on-base percentage…Wade also leads MLB with a 17% chase rate per SIS, only swinging at five of 32 sliders outside of the zone.
C-3-SWING-0: The green light has been good to the Giants…IF Wilmer Flores’ homer with a 3-0 count yesterday was the first of his career, and the Giants’ second this season, which leads the Majors…SF is 3-for-3 when putting the ball in play on a 3-0 count, with five RBI.
GET ‘EM EARLY OR GET’ EM LATE: SIS notes that RHP Miles Mikolas, St. Louis’ starter today, has been burned with a .447 batting average the first time through the order…the Giants have an .861 OPS in the 1st inning, and a .767 OPS in the 2nd, which are both 10th in MLB…Mikolas oddly has a .214 opposing batting average the second time through the order, but the third time through the order his opposing average spikes back up to .484…SF has an .876 OPS when when seeing a pitcher a third time in the game (eighth in MLB) with seven home runs.
ANGRY BIRDS MASTER?: OF Mike Yastrzemski has one more game to continue his reign of terror on the Cardinals…his 1.055 OPS is his best among teams faced at least five times…its also the third best OPS vs. the Cardinals since 2019, his debut season (min. 20 games)…teammate OF Joc Pedersonhas the sixth-best OPS (.980) in that span.
TODAY’S STARTER – LOGAN WEBB RHP #62
2023 RECORD: 1-4, 4.40 ERA
WITH THE GIANTS: Is in the midst of his fifth season with SF…made his fourth career Opening Day roster and his second consecutive Opening Day start with his outing on March 30 at the Yankees…signed a five-year, $90 million extension on April 14 that keeps him in a Giants uniform through 2028…the contract bought out his final two arbitration years and first three years of free agency.
LAST TIME OUT: Snapped his personal four-start losing streak (a career-long) last time out by stymieing the Mets over a season-high 7.0 innings in SF’s 7-4 win on Saturday here at Oracle Park…Webb allowed two runs on five hits (one homer), struck out eight and walked one in the 98-pitch effort…the outing was Webb’s sec-ond quality start of the season.
VS. ST. LOUIS: Squares off with the Cardinals for the fifth time in his career but for just the second time here at Oracle Park…in his start last year here vs. St. Louis on May 7, Webb permitted four runs on eight hits in 5.0 innings but SF’ prevailed 13-7…in four career starts
vs. the Cards, Webb is 2-1 with a 6.62 ERA (13er, 17.2ip), 24 hits allowed, eight walks and 12 strikeouts…SF is 3-1 in his four career starts against St. Louis.
I WATCHED A CHANGE…IN YOU: Through his first four starts this year opponents hit .344 with a .563 slugging % off his changeup…in his last outing, however, the Mets went 0-for-11 vs. Webb’s changeup with five strikeouts…last season, they batted .204 with a .286 slugging %…during his breakout 2021 season, opponents had a .263 average with a .365 slugging % off the changeup.
IT’S LIKE YOU NEVER HAD WINGS: Webb has allowed multiple homers in two of his five outings this season after doing so just one time all of 2022…last season, Webb’s 0.51 HR/9ip was the fourth-lowest in the Majors behind José Quintana (0.43), Framber Valdez (0.49) and Martín Pérez (0.50)…Webb allowed 11 homers in 192.1 innings in 2022 and has allowed six in 30.2 so far in 2023.
FIRE THE WATER CANNONS?: Webb has enjoyed pitching here in his home park throughout his Giants career, boasting a 17-11 mark with a 2.97 ERA (74er, 224.1ip) in 39 career starts here at Oracle during the regular season…the Giants have gone 27-12 (.692) in his 39 career regular season starts here.
LOGAN’S WEBB: Over the last 2+ seasons as Webb has come into his own, the Giants as a team are 40-23 (.635) in games that he has started since 2021…however, SF is 1-4 in his five starts this season and has lost 8-of-his-last-13 dating to August 18, 2022.
THAT’S STRIKEOUTS WITH A K: The righty has whiffed 36 batters in 30.2 innings so far in 2023 (10.56 K/9ip)…for reference, Webb’s highest K/9 of his career came in his breakout 2021 season where he averaged 9.6 strikeouts per 9.0 innings.
GOOD VIBES ONLY: Webb’s 12 punchouts set the franchise record for most strikeouts on Opening Day, surpassing the 11-strikeout effort from Madison Bumgarner on April 2, 2017 at Arizona…the 12 strikeouts on Opening Day were also tied for 10th-most by any pitcher in MLB history on Opening Day…it was Webb’s fourth career 10+ strikeout game.
