Player	Pos	Bats
Knizner	C	R
Harris	3B	R
Eldridge	DH	L
Koss	SS	R
Cavanaugh	C	L
Gilbert	CF	L
McCray	CF	L
Cox	CF	R
Lee	RF	L
Furman	2B	L
Basabe	2B	R
Bandura	LF	L
Whitcomb	3B	R
Hill	LF	L

Handedness: 6 RHB (Knizner, Harris, Koss, Cox, Basabe, Whitcomb), 8 LHB (Eldridge, Cavanaugh, Gilbert, McCray, Lee, Furman, Bandura, Hill).

INJURIES & ROSTER NOTES

Cardinals

Andre Pallante -- 2026-09-04: St. Louis Cardinals activated RHP Andre Pallante from the 15-day injured list.

Masyn Winn -- 2026-09-08: St. Louis Cardinals activated SS Masyn Winn from the 10-day injured list.

Giants

Adrian Houser -- 2026-09-01: San Francisco Giants transferred RHP Adrian Houser from the 15-day injured list to the 60-day injured list. Right forearm strain.

Keaton Winn -- 2026-09-03: San Francisco Giants transferred RHP Keaton Winn from the 15-day injured list to the 60-day injured list. Right elbow neuritis.

Jesus Rodriguez -- 2026-09-04: San Francisco Giants placed C Jesus Rodriguez on the 60-day injured list. Right elbow neuritis.

Andre Pallante's return to the rotation on September 4 gives St. Louis a full-strength starting staff heading into tonight's game. Masyn Winn's activation from the 10-day injured list on September 8 restores the shortstop to the lineup.

San Francisco is carrying heavier absences. Adrian Houser's transfer to the 60-day injured list on September 1 (right forearm strain) and Keaton Winn's matching move on September 3 (right elbow neuritis) each remove a pitcher from the Giants' available pool for this series. Jesus Rodriguez, transferred to the 60-day injured list on September 4 with right elbow neuritis, is out from behind the plate for the remainder of the regular season.

2A: BVP -- CARDINALS BATTERS VS OPPONENT STARTER

Small sample: Masyn Winn (3 PA), Alec Burleson (3 PA), Iván Herrera (2 PA), Jordan Walker (2 PA).

All four career BvP samples against Landen Roupp are too small to carry signal -- Masyn Winn and Alec Burleson at 3 PA each, Iván Herrera and Jordan Walker at 2 PA each. The positive surface numbers are noise at these counts, not a read on the matchup. No batter clears the 10-PA threshold where the career line would carry any weight, so the numbers in the table above do not constitute a danger flag in either direction.

Bryan Torres, Leo Bernal, Nolan Gorman, Thomas Saggese, and Nathan Church have no career BvP history against Roupp on file; no figures apply for those five tonight. For the lineup as a whole, Roupp's 2026 platoon work -- .636 OPS allowed against left-handed batters across 383 batters faced, .657 against right-handers across 254 -- is the better read on how each side of the Cardinals order sets up against him.

No significant bench BvP history.

2B: BVP -- OPPONENT BATTERS VS CARDINALS STARTER

No data available for this section.

No San Francisco Giants batter has career BvP history on file against Quinn Mathews; no career plate appearances apply to tonight's matchup.

2C: PLATOON SPLITS -- CARDINALS

2026 companion columns: sample floor is 60 PA vs RHP (below floor renders SSS in the table above). Above that floor the 2026 vs-hand figure leads the read, with 2025 as the historical anchor; below it, 2025 leads.

Landen Roupp enters tonight having held left-handed batters to a .636 OPS across 383 batters faced this season, compared with .657 allowed against right-handed batters — his stronger split against the lefties. Four of the nine Cardinals starters bat left-handed: Bryan Torres, Alec Burleson, Nolan Gorman, and Nathan Church.

Among that left-handed group, Burleson is the outlier. His 2026 line against right-handed pitching reads .315 average and .935 OPS across 435 plate appearances — 6th of 221 NL batters with at least 60 plate appearances against right-handed pitching (league average .704). Gorman's 2026 figure against right-handers is .596 OPS across 236 plate appearances, 180th of 221 in that pool. Church's 2026 mark against right-handers is .694 OPS across 333 plate appearances, 124th of 221. Torres's 2026 mark against right-handers is .734 OPS across 139 plate appearances, 95th of 221.

The four right-handed Cardinals bats face Roupp's comparatively weaker side (.657 OPS allowed). Jordan Walker leads that group: his 2026 line against right-handed pitching is .277 average and .795 OPS across 453 plate appearances, 46th of 221 in that pool. Iván Herrera's 2026 vs-RHP figure is .715 OPS across 463 plate appearances, near the pool's league average (.704). Masyn Winn's 2026 mark against right-handers is .598 OPS across 372 plate appearances, 179th of 221. Thomas Saggese's 2026 vs-RHP line is .642 OPS across 90 plate appearances. Leo Bernal, a switch hitter, bats left-handed against a right-handed starter; his 2026 sample against right-handed pitching is 35 plate appearances, too small to report split rates reliably.

2C: PLATOON SPLITS -- OPPONENT

2026 companion columns: sample floor is 60 PA vs LHP (below floor renders SSS in the table above). Above that floor the 2026 vs-hand figure leads the read, with 2025 as the historical anchor; below it, 2025 leads.

Quinn Mathews is a left-hander, and San Francisco Giants carries eight left-handed hitters into this game. Of those eight, only Bryce Eldridge has cleared the 60-PA floor against left-handed pitching in 2026: his 2026 vs. LHP line reads .298 AVG with an .874 OPS across 135 plate appearances, 24th of 154 NL batters with at least 60 plate appearances against left-handers (league average .738); his overall .814 OPS ranks 32nd of 167 NL hitters with at least 200 plate appearances. The remaining seven left-handed bats -- Cavanaugh, Gilbert, McCray, Jung Hoo Lee, Furman, Bandura, and Hill -- each have 2026 samples too small against left-handed pitching to carry a split rate, so their 2025 figures lead. Among those: Drew Gilbert's 2025 line vs. LHP was .111/.158/.167 across 19 plate appearances; Grant McCray went .000/.000/.000 across just 4 plate appearances in 2025. The right-handed side of the lineup -- Knizner, Harris, Koss, Whitcomb, and the right-handed bats otherwise on the roster -- similarly leads on 2025 figures, none having cleared the floor this season. Christian Koss posted .279/.340/.302 across 47 plate appearances vs. left-handers in 2025; Andrew Knizner hit .280/.280/.400 across 25 plate appearances; Brett Harris posted .222/.300/.259 across 31 plate appearances. Shay Whitcomb's 2025 sample of 10 plate appearances against left-handed pitching (.100/.100/.400, with one home run) is too small to weigh. Eldridge is the clearest left-handed threat against Mathews tonight; the rest of the group presents thin historical samples on either side.

2D: PITCHER PLATOON SPLITS

Landen Roupp enters with a slight edge against left-handed batters this season: 2026 vs LHB, .636 OPS allowed across 383 batters faced, compared with .657 OPS allowed against right-handed batters across 254 batters faced. The Cardinals send four left-handed bats (Bryan Torres, Alec Burleson, Nolan Gorman, Nathan Church) and one switch hitter (Leo Bernal) into that split, alongside four right-handed bats (Ivan Herrera, Jordan Walker, Thomas Saggese, Masyn Winn) who face his slightly less favorable side.

Quinn Mathews faces a Giants roster that leans left-handed (eight left-handed batters, six right-handed). His 2026 sample against left-handed batters stands at just 31 batters faced -- too small to report a reliable split rate. Against right-handed batters, his 2026 figure reads .743 OPS allowed across 106 batters faced; the Giants' six right-handed bats step into that side of his ledger.

2D-HA: PITCHER HOME/AWAY SPLITS

Landen Roupp is stronger at home this season -- .589 OPS allowed at home, compared with .694 OPS allowed on the road. He pitches tonight as the road starter at Busch Stadium. His 2026 home ERA of 3.69 ranks 87th of 185 NL pitchers with at least 20 innings pitched at home (league average 3.90); his 2026 road ERA of 4.28 ranks 104th of 179 NL pitchers with at least 20 innings pitched on the road (league average 4.04). The 2025 figures in the table show a sharper home-road gap: a 2.25 ERA in 48.0 innings at home against a 3.84 ERA in 58.2 innings away.

2E: TTO SPLITS (TIMES THROUGH ORDER)

Landen Roupp has pitched into a third pass in 26 of 28 starts. In the 26 starts he pitched into a third pass, hitters posted a .639 OPS on the second pass -- 234 PA. From the third pass on in those same starts: .726 OPS -- 133 PA. Early hooks: 2 starts, 18 PA. Per-pass rate stats resting on fewer than 50 PA render as their PA count, never as a decimal; 2026 companion columns carry their own 60 BF floor (below floor renders SSS).

Landen Roupp has pitched into a third pass in 26 of his 28 starts. In those 26 starts, hitters posted a .639 OPS against him on the second pass across 234 PA; from the third pass on in those same starts, .726 OPS across 133 PA -- his third pass is his weakest of the three.

Quinn Mathews has pitched into a third pass in 5 of his 6 starts. In those 5 starts, hitters posted a .908 OPS against him on the second pass across 45 PA. His third-pass sample in those starts is 29 batters faced -- too small to report split rates reliably.

2F: INHERITED RUNNERS PROFILE

2025 league average strand rate was 68.8%. Kyle Leahy's 62.1% strand rate on 29 inherited runners sits below that mark, as does Gordon Graceffo's 54.5% across 11. Riley O'Brien has stranded 70.0% of his 10 inherited runners, and Michael McGreevy has not allowed any of his three inherited runners to score, posting a 100.0% strand rate on a small sample. Both Leahy and Graceffo carry their inherited-runner burdens into a 2026 workload of 135.0 and 76.0 innings respectively; McGreevy's 160.0 innings and O'Brien's 60.0 round out the group.

2G: BATTED BALL MATCHUP

Pitcher Batted Ball Profiles (2025)

Sample floor is 50 balls in play (PROVISIONAL): below floor renders "--" in the table above -- cite the raw BIP/AB count instead of the rate.

Hitter Batted Ball Results (2025) -- SF

Sample floor is 50 balls in play (PROVISIONAL): below floor renders "--" in the table above -- cite the raw BIP/AB count instead of the rate.

2025 GB% types every ball in play; 2026 GO% is the ground-out share of outs in play (GO / (GO+AO), statsapi) -- different measures, both labeled. 2026 GO% reads "SSS" below 50 GO+AO; at or above it the 2026 figure leads and the 2025 GB% is last season's.

Landen Roupp generated ground balls on 46.0% of balls in play in 2025 across 315 BIP, a profile that shapes tonight's contact expectations for Cardinals hitters at Busch Stadium. His fly-ball rate of 27.3% and line-drive rate of 25.4% round out a profile tilted toward the ground.

Among the San Francisco Giants' batters in tonight's lineup, 2025 batted ball samples are almost universally too small to report rates reliably. Christian Koss is the lone exception on grounders: a .250 average on 64 ground-ball at-bats in 2025. The remaining Giants -- Bryce Eldridge, Drew Gilbert, Brett Harris, Andrew Knizner, Grant McCray, and Shay Whitcomb -- each have fewer than 50 balls in play on record in 2025, so no per-type batting average applies to their profiles tonight.

Quinn Mathews has no 2025 batted ball profile on file, so no historical contact baseline applies to him tonight.

2H: BATTERY PAIRING

No data available for this section.

Ivan Herrera catches Quinn Mathews tonight, and the two have no 2025 innings on file together -- a fresh battery for this start. With no prior pairing record to draw on, game-plan tendencies between them carry no historical baseline tonight.

2I: BASERUNNING MATCHUP

The Giants' most active baserunners this season come with small samples on both sides of the ledger. Christian Koss has 5 steals against 0 caught stealing in 2026, and Grant McCray matches that with 5 stolen bases and 0 caught stealing — neither sample reaches 10 attempts, so no rate applies to either. Drew Gilbert has gone 2-for-6 in steal attempts in 2026 (2 sb, 4 cs), and Osleivis Basabe is 2-for-4 (2 sb, 2 cs); both samples also fall short of 10 attempts. Bryce Eldridge has one steal and no caught stealing in 2026.

Pedro Pagés, the Cardinals' primary catcher this season (Iván Herrera is behind the plate tonight), has thrown out 17 of 55 steal attempts in 2026, a 30.9% caught-stealing rate across 75 games. Leo Bernal, the Cardinals' backup catcher listed at DH tonight, has allowed 11 stolen bases and caught 2 runners in 13 attempts — too small a sample for a rate.

On the San Francisco side, Drew Cavanaugh has allowed 37 stolen bases and caught 9 runners in 46 attempts this season, a 19.6% caught-stealing rate. Andrew Knizner has allowed 13 stolen bases and caught 1 in 14 attempts — a sample too small to report a rate; Cavanaugh's 46-attempt mark is the publishable benchmark among Giants catchers.

2J: DEFENSIVE CONTEXT

Masyn Winn brings the steadiest glove in tonight's infield, posting a .994 fielding percentage across 129 games at shortstop in 2025 -- three errors against 64 double plays turned. Jordan Walker handled right field in 108 games last season, committing 4 errors for a .981 mark. Alec Burleson takes first base tonight; his 2025 first-base sample covers 50 games, 27 double plays, and 4 errors (.990). Thomas Saggese at second base logged 35 games there in 2025, turning 24 double plays against 4 errors (.973). Nolan Gorman shifts to third base tonight; his 2025 third-base sample spans 54 games with 11 double plays, 6 errors, and a .950 fielding percentage. Nathan Church handled center field in 18 games in 2025 without an error (1.000). Ivan Herrera behind the plate appeared in 14 games at catcher in 2025, committing 1 error (.989). Bryan Torres has no 2025 fielding record at left field on file; no defensive figures apply to his start tonight.

2K: BALLPARK CONTEXT & HEAD-TO-HEAD

The Cardinals open a three-game home series against the San Francisco Giants tonight at Busch Stadium. Over the 2022-2025 span, St. Louis went 4-2 in 2025, 5-1 in 2024, 1-6 in 2023, and 4-3 in 2022 against San Francisco.

2L: BATTER K%/BB% PROFILE

Cardinals

Alec Burleson and Iván Herrera are the lineup's two contact anchors against Landen Roupp tonight. Burleson's 2026 K% of 17.0% sits below the league average of 22.1%; his 2025 mark was 14.5% across 544 plate appearances. Herrera's 2026 K% of 18.4% also comes in below the league average of 22.1%; his 2025 figure was 18.7% across 450 plate appearances. Jordan Walker carries the sharpest strikeout swing in the middle of the order: 2026 K% of 25.4% across 619 plate appearances, after a 2025 mark of 31.8% across 396 plate appearances. Nolan Gorman's 2026 K% of 32.3% across 282 plate appearances follows a 2025 mark of 33.8% across 402 plate appearances. Thomas Saggese's 2025 K% of 28.1% across 295 plate appearances is flagged; his 2026 K% of 26.5% across 136 plate appearances runs in the same range. Nathan Church's 2025 K% of 27.7% across 65 plate appearances is flagged, though his 2026 figure of 17.2% across 429 plate appearances falls below the league average of 22.1%.

Giants

Bryce Eldridge leads the Giants' strikeout column in 2025 (35.1% across 37 plate appearances), though his 2026 K% of 26.7% across 434 plate appearances represents a larger and more settled read. Grant McCray's 2025 K% of 42.3% across 26 plate appearances is flagged; his 2026 figure of 29.9% across 77 plate appearances runs well above the league average of 22.1%. Shay Whitcomb's 2025 K% of 31.3% across 32 plate appearances is flagged; his 2026 K% of 27.0% across 89 plate appearances stays elevated. Brett Harris's 2025 K% of 25.0% across 84 plate appearances is flagged; his 2026 sample of 13 plate appearances is too small to report split rates reliably. On the walk side, Eldridge's 2025 BB% of 18.9% across 37 plate appearances is flagged; his 2026 BB% of 12.7% across 434 plate appearances is above the league average of 8.9%. Christian Koss's 2025 BB% of 4.7% across 191 plate appearances is flagged; his 2026 BB% of 5.1% across 177 plate appearances stays below the league average of 8.9%. Drew Gilbert's 2026 K% of 18.2% across 369 plate appearances comes in below the league average of 22.1%; his 2025 mark was 18.3% across 109 plate appearances.

2M: BATTER BATTED BALL PROFILE

Cardinals

Landen Roupp's 2025 ground-ball rate of 46.0% fits four Cardinals who bring heavy ground-ball contact: Iván Herrera (52.6% GB, 285 BIP), Jordan Walker (48.9%, 231 BIP), Alec Burleson (42.0%, 398 BIP), and Thomas Saggese (41.8%, 189 BIP). Nolan Gorman runs the opposite shape — 41.7% fly-ball rate against a 30.2% ground-ball rate across 199 BIP — and Nathan Church's 37 BIP are too small to report split rates reliably. This season's ground-out shares of outs in play, against a 47.1% league mark: Herrera 55.8% (308), Burleson 51.8% (303), Walker 48.8% (254), Church 48.0% (227), Winn 45.8% (240), Gorman 33.6% (116).

Giants

Sample floor is 50 balls in play (PROVISIONAL): below floor renders "--" in the table above -- cite the raw BIP/AB count instead of the rate.

2025 GB% types every ball in play; 2026 GO% is the ground-out share of outs in play (GO / (GO+AO), statsapi) -- different measures, both labeled. 2026 GO% reads "SSS" below 50 GO+AO; at or above it the 2026 figure leads and the 2025 GB% is last season's.

Quinn Mathews's 2025 ground-ball rate of 41.9% sits below the league average of 47.0%, meaning his profile leans toward fly-ball and line-drive contact more than a typical starter. Christian Koss (51.6% GB, 124 BIP), Drew Gilbert (47.4%, 76 BIP), Andrew Knizner (47.0%, 66 BIP), and Brett Harris (51.0%, 51 BIP) all profile as ground-ball hitters against a starter who surrenders fewer grounders than average. Shay Whitcomb (21 BIP), Bryce Eldridge (15 BIP), and Grant McCray (11 BIP) each have too few balls in play this season to report split rates reliably.

2N: PITCHER K%/BB% PROFILE

Quinn Mathews enters tonight with 28 strikeouts and 14 walks across 30.2 innings this season -- a 20.4% strikeout rate below the league average of 22.1% and a 10.2% walk rate above the league average of 8.9%. Landen Roupp's 2025 line in the table -- 21.4% K%, 9.5% BB%, 2.27 K/BB across 106.2 innings -- reflects a tighter walk profile than his 2026 numbers show. This season Roupp's strikeout rate stands at 21.8%, just below the NL average of 22.5% among pitchers with at least 60 innings, while his walk rate of 11.3% ranks 108th of 117 in that group -- poor by a cutoff of 9.8%. His ground-ball rate of 58.0% ranks 12th of 117 in the same pool.

KEY MATCHUPS

Quinn Mathews. Quinn Mathews's second pass is his weakest this season. In the 5 starts he has reached a third time through, hitters posted a .908 OPS against him on the second pass across 45 plate appearances, against .736 across 55 batters faced on the first -- neither sample reaches the 60-batter mark for a reliable per-pass read, and the third-pass sample in those starts (29 batters faced) is too small to rate. He has pitched into a third pass in 5 of 6 starts this season. San Francisco's lineup carries eight left-handed hitters tonight, all of them positioned to reach that second-pass window before the Cardinals' bullpen takes over.

Landen Roupp. Landen Roupp's third pass is his weakest this season. His first-pass OPS-against is .601 across 252 batters faced; in the 26 starts he reached a third time through, hitters posted a .639 OPS against him on the second pass (234 plate appearances) and .726 from the third pass on (133). Roupp has made 28 starts this season and pitches deep enough in most of them for the lineup to cycle through a third time, giving the bottom of the Cardinals' order -- Nolan Gorman (.596 OPS vs. right-handed pitching across 236 plate appearances this season) and Thomas Saggese (.642 OPS vs. right-handed pitching across 90 plate appearances) -- a likely late look.

Jordan Walker. Jordan Walker has 2 hits in 2 career at-bats against Landen Roupp, with a 1.500 career SLG in that 2-plate-appearance sample -- too small to draw a trend, but a clean prior contact fact. Walker's 2026 OPS against right-handed pitching is .795 across 453 plate appearances as he steps into tonight's matchup facing Roupp from the right side.

Quinn Mathews home/away. Mathews carries a 1.59 ERA and .542 OPS-against at home this season across 23 batters faced, and a 4.68 ERA and .765 OPS-against on the road across 114 batters faced. That home sample is too small to draw a reliable comparison -- no home/away edge applies -- but tonight's start at Busch Stadium falls on the home side of those figures.

WATCHLIST

-- Quinn Mathews, second time through the order. If the Giants' lineup reaches its second pass against Mathews, watch for a surge: that turn has been his weakest this season, on a small sample. Oliver Marmol's hook timing becomes the pivot: San Francisco's window to do damage is the second pass, before a third pass that has gone quietly for him in a sample too small to rate.

-- Drew Cavanaugh arm. If Cardinals baserunners reach against Landen Roupp, watch how aggressively Oliver Marmol's club tests Drew Cavanaugh behind the plate. Cavanaugh has thrown out 9 of 46 steal attempts in 2026 -- a 19.6% caught-stealing rate, against Pedro Pages's 30.9% on the Cardinals' side. The gap is real and the Cardinals are the running club in this matchup.

-- Quinn Mathews walk rate. If Mathews falls behind batters early, watch his walk rate: at 10.2% this season it is above the league's 8.9%. A Giants lineup heavy with left-handed bats and a patient Cavanaugh (10.9% BB rate) could push pitch counts and end Mathews's outing before his favorable third-pass window even opens for St. Louis.

-- Landen Roupp ground-ball rate vs. Cardinals contact. If Cardinals hitters put balls in play on the ground, watch whether Roupp converts them. His 2026 ground-ball rate is 58.0% -- 12th of 117 NL pitchers with at least 60 innings -- Alec Burleson has grounded out on 51.8% of his outs in play this season (303 of them), above the 47.1% league mark, so his contact plays into Roupp's strength rather than against it; last season's profile (42.0% ground balls) was a lifter's, and 2026 has not matched it.

QUICK REFERENCE -- IN-GAME QUERIES

1. How has Jordan Walker performed against Landen Roupp in their career?

2. How has Masyn Winn performed against Landen Roupp in their career?

3. How has Jung Hoo Lee performed against Quinn Mathews in their career?

4. What are Landen Roupp's third-time-through-the-order splits in 2025?

5. What are Jordan Walker's splits against left-handed and right-handed pitchers in 2025?

6. What is Kyle Leahy's inherited-runner strand rate in 2025?

7. What are the park factors at Busch Stadium in 2025?