Lay The Lumber With Cardinals -1.5 vs. Cubs Monday
BET the ST. LOUIS CARDINALS -1.5 (-105) at DraftKings Sportsbook Monday vs. the Chicago Cubs +1.5 (-115).
The red-hot Cardinals (69-51) start a 5-game series with the long-time rival Cubs (52-68) Monday. St. Louis will start LHP Jordan Montgomery (6-3, 3.29 ERA) while Chicago sends out LHP Drew Smyly (5-6, 3.67 ERA).
St. Louis is where I'm putting my money since they have the hottest bats in baseball and Montgomery was a huge pickup for the Cardinals at the trade deadline.
Cardinals Are Raking In August & Abuse Lefty Pitching
St. Louis Cardinals 1B Paul Goldschmidt bats against the Colorado Rockies at Busch Stadium in St Louis, Missouri. (Getty Images)
St. Louis’s lineup ranks 1st in hard-hit rate, wRC+, wOBA and WAR in August, per FanGraphs. But, the gap between St. Louis and the 2nd-place team in several of these categories is staggering.
The Cardinals have a 155 wRC+ (134 wRC+ is 2nd-best), .380 wOBA (.360 wOBA is 2nd) and a 7.4 WAR (6.1 WAR is 2nd) this month. St. Louis sluggers Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado are 2nd and 3rd in WAR in August for all of baseball.
Furthermore, St. Louis’s lineup dominates left-handed pitching. The Cardinals rank 1st in both wRC+ and wOBA and 3rd in both ISO and BB/K rate against lefties, according to FanGraphs. St. Louis scores 5.7 runs per 9 (R/9) vs. left-handed pitching and Chicago puts up just 4.3 R/9.
Montgomery Is A Great Pick Up For St. Louis
St. Louis Cardinals starter Jordan Montgomery pitches during the 1st inning against the Milwaukee Brewers at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, Missouri. (Getty Images)
The Cardinals acquiring Montgomery from the Yankees at the trade deadline is exactly what they needed for a pennant push. Montgomery has been locked in since going to St. Louis. He is 3-0, allowing just one earned run in 16 2/3 innings and a 17/3 K/BB rate as a Cardinal.
As a Yankees fan, I know Montgomery flies under the radar because N.Y.’s bats rarely showed up for him. Montgomery was 9-10 since the start of 2021 despite having a sub-4.00 ERA and FIP and playing for the freaking Yankees.
The bottom line is the Yankees hitters failed Montgomery. Granted, Montgomery has only received nine total runs of support in his three starts with the Cardinals. That should improve since St. Louis can't perform any worse for Montgomery than New York did.
Also, Montgomery’s best game of the season by game score was June 11 vs. Chicago as a Yankee. He threw five shutout innings, striking out five Cubs, issuing zero walks and allowing just five hits in an 8-0 win.
Go to DraftKings Sportsbook to BET ST. LOUIS CARDINALS -1.5 (-105).
FOLLOW GEOFF ON TWITTER: @Geoffery_Clark