St. Louis Cardinals vs Atlanta Braves Prediction & Picks - MLB

Prediction published on 4/23/25, 9:14 AM  by Carlos Zabala | Modified on 4/24/25 at 3:55 AM in MLB Picks

Things were going moderately well for the Cardinals early in the season, hitting a fairly high collective AVG, but that was until they traveled to Citi Field to face the Mets in a stadium that, with New York's pitching, has been an offensive graveyard for every team that has visited Queens. For the Cardinals, that was the case, and they fared worse than any other team, being swept by the Mets in a four-game series. They then suffered their fifth consecutive loss in Atlanta against the Braves in Game 1 of the series but eventually returned to the offensive ways of high AVG, winning Game 2 10-4 with 12 hits.

It's also true that the Braves had to make last-minute moves when it was known that Strider would be returning to the disabled list a day before his scheduled start on Tuesday. The Braves, despite closing as favorites at -145 odds, were then decided by a bullpen game that didn't work, and the Cards feasted on offense, with Nootbaar and Contreras standing out, who combined for 4-for-9 as the first and second bats in the order.

Mikolas for the Cardinals and Elder for the Braves are scheduled to be the pitching duel in Game 3.