The Cubs might be facing the Cardinals at exactly the right time. While St. Louis has been in free fall over the last three weeks, the Cubs are 10-6 since they lost to the Cardinals on the Fourth of July.
For more on the Cardinals, here’s Doc Holliday, manager of our SB Nation Cardinals site Viva el Birdos.
The team is in a tailspin with almost zero offensive production. The Cardinals are 3-7 since the All-Star break and 6-13 since they defeated the Cubs at Wrigley Field in that foggy game July 4.
There are some bright spots on the pitching staff. Andre Pallante, Kyle Leahy and Michael McGreevy (minus his last outing) have all been strong. Hunter Dobbins had a stellar outing against the Angels right after the break. Matthew Liberatore either needs to go to the bullpen or Memphis. Much of our community would pick the second option. Dustin May just completed a strong start that the Cardinals gave no run support to, so he’ll almost certainly be gone before the trade deadline.
The trade deadline is likely to be the big focus for the Cardinals as it’s likely that Lars Nootbaar, JoJo Romero, Dustin May and maybe even some other regulars get moved by President of Baseball Operations, Chaim Bloom. There are potential stars lurking in Memphis and I expect Bloom to make room for many of them while also stockpiling future talent.
The Cardinals are still technically in the Wild Card hunt, but it’s not real. As much as it pains me to say it, the Cubs will be playing St. Louis at the perfect time (for the Cubs).
Fun facts
The Cubs played 102 games between visits to St. Louis from their second trip last season and the first this year from May 29-31. The Cubs lost, 6-5; won, 6-1; and lost, 5-1, in that May series.
Since then, the Cubs have played 53 games, three of them vs. the Cards on July 3-5 at home, where they lost, 17-1 and 3-0, before winning, 5-4.
Last year, the Cubs were 3-4 at Busch Stadium, splitting a four-game series and losing two of three. They were 1-1 and 2-2 in 2024. They last won a series, 3-1, July 27-30, 2023.
The Cubs have not swept a series at St. Louis since Sept. 13-15, 2010. This is their 41st series there since then. They have been swept in 10 of the previous 40, most recently Sept. 2-4, 2022. One of the sweeps was four games and another was two.
The Cubs’ 2,532 total games vs. the Cardinals are their second most against any opponent, after 2,631 vs. the Pirates. In all those games, the Cubs have outscored the Cards by exactly two runs, 11,064 to 11,062. They lead the rivalry, 1,283 wins to 1,230, but are 567-677 at St. Louis. The 677 losses are their second most on the road, after 715 at Pittsburgh.
(Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
Probable pitching matchups
Monday: David Peterson, LHP (2-1, 5.57 ERA, 1.286 WHIP, 5.06 FIP in four starts with Cubs; 5-7, 5.97 ERA, 1.562 WHIP, 4.14 FIP overall) vs. Matthew Liberatore, LHP (5-7, 5.18 ERA, 1.515 WHIP, 4.83 FIP)
Tuesday: Colin Rea, RHP (7-7, 4.85 ERA, 1.420 WHIP, 4.94 FIP) vs. Michael McGreevy, RHP (4-8, 3.07 ERA, 1.128 WHIP, 4.23 FIP)
Wednesday: Matthew Boyd, LHP (6-1, 3.81 ERA, 1.237 WHIP, 3.63 FIP) vs. Dustin May, RHP (5-7, 4.59 ERA, 1.317 WHIP, 3.16 FIP)
Thursday: Shōta Imanaga, LHP (7-8, 3.72 ERA, 1.099 WHIP, 4.40 FIP) vs. Andre Pallante, RHP (11-6, 3.77 ERA, 1.211 WHIP, 3.81 FIP)
Times & TV channels
Monday: 6:45 p.m. CT, Marquee Sports Network
Tuesday: 6:45 p.m. CT, Marquee Sports Network, TBS (outside the Cubs and Cardinals market territories)
Wednesday: 6:45 p.m. CT, Marquee Sports Network, Peacock (streaming, outside the Cubs and Cardinals market territories)
Thursday: 1:15 p.m. CT, Marquee Sports Network
Prediction
I’m going to go out on a bit of a limb here. The Cubs are (relatively) hot and the Cardinals are not. The Cubs could really use a series where they take three of four, so I’m going to predict that.
Up next
The Cubs return to Wrigley Field for a three-game series against the New York Yankees beginning Friday afternoon.
