NL CENTRAL STANDINGS

TeamW-LGBStrk
Reds15-8-W4
Pirates13-91.5W1
Cubs13-91.5W6
Cardinals13-91.5L1
Brewers12-92.0L1

NL EAST STANDINGS

TeamW-LGBStrk
Braves16-7-W6
Marlins11-125.0W2
Nationals10-136.0L1
Phillies8-147.5L6
Mets7-158.5L11

RECENT RESULTS (LAST 10)

DateOppH/AResult
Apr 20MIAAwayL 3-5
Apr 19HOUAwayW 7-5 (10)
Apr 18HOUAwayW 7-5
Apr 17HOUAwayW 9-4
Apr 15CLEHomeW 5-3
Apr 14CLEHomeW 6-5 (10)
Apr 13CLEHomeL 3-9
Apr 12BOSHomeL 3-9
Apr 11BOSHomeL 1-7
Apr 10BOSHomeW 3-2

STARTING PITCHERS

Dustin May (R) -- STL. 2-2, 6.98 ERA, 19.1 IP, 15 K, 4 BB, 1.60 WHIP through 4 starts. Allowed 27 H and 2 HR. Career K% 21.1, BB% 9.6. GB% 44.1. The splits tell the story: 3.24 ERA at home (75.0 IP career) vs 6.28 ERA on the road (57.1 IP). Tonight he's the road version.

Chris Paddack (R) -- MIA. 0-3, 5.59 ERA, 19.1 IP, 18 K, 5 BB, 1.45 WHIP through 3 starts. Already 4 HR surrendered. Career K% 16.7, BB% 5.5, K/BB 3.03. FB% 34.3 -- the league's most fly-ball-prone of the two. Home ERA 4.41 career, and he's home tonight.

EXPECTED LINEUPS

Cardinals (Projected from 2026-04-20)

#PlayerPosBats2026 RISP AVG2026 RISP OPS
1Wetherholt2BL.250.730
2HerreraCR.263.851
3Burleson1BL.321.839
4WalkerRFR.208.803
5Urías3BR.000.182
6WinnSSR.136.441
7PozoDHR.222.555
8SaggeseLFR.188.485
9ScottCFL.133.355

Handedness: 6 RHB (Herrera, Walker, Urías, Winn, Pozo, Saggese), 3 LHB (Wetherholt, Burleson, Scott).

Marlins (From active roster)

13 players listed from active roster pool. Actual game lineup will be 9 from this group.

PlayerPosBats
RamírezCR
SlaterLFR
Norby3BR
Pauley3BL
HernándezLFR
MarseeCFL
Sanoja2BR
StowersLFL
JiménezSSR
HicksCL
Lopez2BR
CaissieRFL
EdwardsSSS

Handedness: 7 RHB (Ramírez, Slater, Norby, Hernández, Sanoja, Jiménez, Lopez), 5 LHB (Pauley, Marsee, Stowers, Hicks, Caissie).

INJURIES & ROSTER NOTES

No injury updates incorporated -- this report draws only from the JSON data file. Check team beat feeds before first pitch for late scratches or lineup swaps.

2A: BVP -- CARDINALS BATTERS VS OPPONENT STARTER

PlayerPAABHAVGOBPSLGHRBBK
Ramon Urias210.000.000.000000

Small sample: Ramon Urías (2 PA).

Essentially no history. Urías' 2-PA line is meaningless, and the other eight Cardinals starters (Wetherholt, Herrera, Burleson, Walker, Winn, Pozo, Saggese, Scott) have never faced Paddack. The lineup is facing him blind -- lean on the platoon, TTO, and K%/BB% profiles in the next sections.

Bench note: Gorman, Fermin, Pages, Church, and the backup catcher room have no recorded BvP vs Paddack either.

2B: BVP -- OPPONENT BATTERS VS CARDINALS STARTER

PlayerPAABHAVGOBPSLGHRBBK
Agustín Ramírez330.000.000.000000
Xavier Edwards331.333.333.333000
Otto Lopez2221.0001.0001.000000
Graham Pauley220.000.000.000001
Kyle Stowers220.000.000.000000
Austin Slater220.000.000.000001

Small sample: Agustín Ramírez (3 PA), Xavier Edwards (3 PA), Otto Lopez (2 PA), Graham Pauley (2 PA), Kyle Stowers (2 PA), Austin Slater (2 PA).

All samples under 10 PA -- none qualify for the danger threshold (AVG >= .400 with 10+ PA). Lopez (2-for-2) and Edwards (1-for-3) are the only two Marlins who have ever gotten a hit off May, and they lead the ground-ball output in the MIA lineup. Noise, not signal.

Bench note: Marsee, Norby, Hernández, Sanoja, Hicks, Caissie, and Jiménez have no recorded BvP vs May.

2C: PLATOON SPLITS -- CARDINALS

PlayerPAAVGOBPSLGHRBBK
Alec Burleson L419.296.353.478153259
Masyn Winn R374.251.309.36872371
Victor Scott L332.221.310.31753175
Ivan Herrera R328.268.343.399102466
Jordan Walker R289.200.263.29142194
Ramon Urias R273.233.278.36771757
Thomas Saggese R227.254.305.34011563
Yohel Pozo R126.217.254.3584616

Cardinals show 6 RHB and 3 LHB tonight against Paddack's right arm. Burleson (.296/.353/.478 vs RHP) is the lineup's one sure thing and slots third. Herrera (.268/.343/.399) gives the top of the order a second real threat. Walker's .200/.263/.291 vs RHP is the sinkhole in the middle -- Paddack's home FB tendencies give Walker a shot at a mistake pitch, but the base rate is against him.

2C-OPP: PLATOON SPLITS -- OPPONENT

PlayerPAAVGOBPSLGHRBBK
Xavier Edwards B421.306.368.39133557
Agustín Ramírez R419.238.289.432152370
Otto Lopez R403.270.333.413123252
Kyle Stowers L356.297.377.5972439106
Liam Hicks L324.256.349.36763546
Connor Norby R236.277.301.4296563
Javier Sanoja R209.249.288.39931222
Heriberto Hernandez R170.270.347.43961641
Graham Pauley L160.224.300.37141634
Jakob Marsee L153.274.359.43721630
Austin Slater R67.206.242.2860323
Owen Caissie L27.192.222.3461111
Leo Jimenez R11.000.000.000002

Miami runs 7 RHB and 5 LHB on the active roster, with one switch-hitter (Edwards). Against May's right arm, Stowers (.297/.377/.597, 24 HR in 356 PA) is the top-tier danger -- May's vs-LHB profile (.261/.357/.495, 15 HR/334 PA) lines up badly. Edwards (.306 vs RHP) and Lopez (.270/.333/.413) are the table-setters, and Ramírez (.432 SLG) adds power from the right side.

2D: PITCHER PLATOON SPLITS

PitchervsPAAVGOBPSLGOPSHRK
Dustin Mayvs LHB334.261.357.495.7561582
Dustin Mayvs RHB250.256.325.386.642641
Chris Paddackvs LHB345.256.306.492.7481854
Chris Paddackvs RHB325.281.311.474.7551358

May has a clean platoon split -- lefties slug .495 with 15 HR, righties .386 with 6 HR. Miami's 5 LHB (Stowers, Hicks, Pauley, Marsee, Caissie) are the matchup edge against him. Paddack's split is flatter: RHB actually hit him slightly higher (.281/.311/.474) than LHB (.256/.306/.492), though LHB have more HR leverage. Both Cardinals sides have angles; Burleson and Scott from the left, Herrera and Winn from the right.

2D-HA: PITCHER HOME/AWAY SPLITS

PitcherSplitBFIPERAKBBHR
Dustin MayAway25857.16.28502612
Dustin MayHome32675.03.2473309
Chris PaddackAway37488.25.58692222
Chris PaddackHome29669.14.4143159

Today's game is at loanDepot park -- May pitching away (6.28 ERA career, 12 HR in 57.1 IP), Paddack pitching home (4.41 ERA, 9 HR in 69.1 IP). Each pitcher is in his worse (May) or better (Paddack) venue tonight. If the early innings stay tight, the venue edge tilts to Miami.

2E: TTO SPLITS (TIMES THROUGH ORDER)

PitcherTTOPAAVGSLGOPSHRKBB
Dustin MayTTO1227.226.347.57355623
Dustin MayTTO2220.290.508.79894417
Dustin MayTTO3137.263.517.78072316
Chris PaddackTTO1289.265.493.758155514
Chris PaddackTTO2266.283.500.783134112
Chris PaddackTTO3115.243.417.66031611

May is a classic TTO-degrader: .573 OPS first time through, jumping +.225 to .798 by TTO2 and holding near .780 at TTO3. Innings 4-6 are where he breaks. Paddack's curve is the opposite shape -- worst TTO2 (.783), then a cliff in TTO3 (.660 OPS in 115 PA). If the Marlins stretch Paddack into a third pass, the Cardinals get their best swings late.

2F: INHERITED RUNNERS PROFILE

RelieverIRScoredStrand%
Kyle Leahy291162.1%
JoJo Romero26388.5%
Matt Svanson261350.0%
Gordon Graceffo11554.5%
Riley O'Brien10370.0%
Ryan Fernandez8450.0%
Michael McGreevy30100.0%

League average strand rate: ~68-72%. Romero (88.5%) is the only Cardinals reliever meaningfully above league average in a real sample. Svanson and Fernandez at 50.0% and Graceffo at 54.5% are all below -- if May hands off with traffic, getting Romero into that inning is the difference between holding and leaking. Svanson walked 2 batters yesterday in 1.1 clean innings, so command is also in play.

2G: BATTED BALL MATCHUP

Pitcher Batted Ball Profiles (Career)

PitcherBIPGB%FB%LD%
Dustin May37244.1%28.2%26.6%
Chris Paddack48738.6%34.3%25.5%

Hitter Batted Ball Results (Career) -- MIA

HitterGB AVGLD AVGFB AVG
Owen Caissie.000.500.250
Xavier Edwards.290.560.126
Heriberto Hernandez.325.725.077
Liam Hicks.183.532.171
Leo Jimenez.100.000.000
Otto Lopez.227.542.079
Jakob Marsee.278.683.186
Connor Norby.218.714.157
Graham Pauley.224.607.091
Agustín Ramírez.176.598.093
Javier Sanoja.287.443.045
Austin Slater.156.667.136
Kyle Stowers.271.696.178

May is a moderate ground-ball arm (44.1% GB career) facing a Miami lineup that hits grounders heavily -- Lopez 50.4% GB, Ramírez 49.4%, Slater 49.5%, Edwards 47.9%. That's the engine of May's outs when it works. The danger: Stowers hits fly balls well (.178 FB AVG, 24 HR vs RHP) and his LD AVG (.696) is the lineup-topping line-drive bat. One hanging slider in a Stowers AB flips the script.

2H: BATTERY PAIRING

Career catcher pairings shown below reflect May's time with the Dodgers. Herrera (tonight's catcher) has 0 prior IP paired with May and does not appear in the table.

CatcherGIPERAAVGOBPSLG
Will Smith1156.04.98.255----
Dalton Rushing634.23.89.227----
Carlos Narváez421.04.71.299----
Austin Barnes212.14.38.250----
Connor Wong25.16.75.348----

The catchers shown above are from May's Dodgers tenure -- Rushing (3.89 ERA, 34.2 IP) and Smith (4.98, 56.0) were his strongest pairings there. Tonight's catcher is Ivan Herrera, who has 0 career IP with May in this dataset -- a fresh battery. That's a signal in itself: look for early mistake-call sequences in the first pass through the order.

2I: BASERUNNING MATCHUP

Xavier Edwards (MIA): 27 SB / 7 CS career -- 79.4% success rate. Top base-stealer on either side.

Agustín Ramírez (MIA): 16 SB / 3 CS -- 84.2%. Unusual speed for a catcher.

Otto Lopez (MIA): 15 SB / 6 CS -- 71.4%. Mid-tier threat.

Jakob Marsee (MIA): 14 SB / 6 CS -- 70.0%. Active threat from the outfield.

Connor Norby (MIA): 8 SB / 2 CS -- 80.0%.

Kyle Stowers (MIA): 5 SB / 1 CS -- 83.3%.

Javier Sanoja (MIA): 6 SB / 5 CS -- 54.5%. Runs but gets caught.

Liam Hicks, Graham Pauley, Austin Slater (MIA): 100.0% success on small samples (2, 2, and 1 SB respectively).

Heriberto Hernández (MIA): 1 SB / 1 CS -- 50.0%.

Takeaway: Miami runs. Edwards, Ramírez, and Lopez as the top-three combine for 58 SB at a 77%+ clip. Herrera/May pop-time management is a full-game theme.

2J: DEFENSIVE CONTEXT

PlayerPOSGDPEFld%
Victor ScottCF136360.982
Masyn WinnSS1296430.994
Jordan WalkerRF108240.981
Ramon Urias3B782040.979
Alec Burleson1B502740.990
Yohel PozoC46050.982
Alec BurlesonLF41001.000
Thomas Saggese2B352440.973
Alec BurlesonRF34110.983
Thomas SaggeseSS33710.988
Ramon Urias2B26701.000
Thomas Saggese3B18020.939
Ivan HerreraC14010.989
Victor ScottRF7001.000
Yohel Pozo1B6201.000
Victor ScottLF4001.000
Ivan HerreraLF4001.000
Ramon Urias1B3001.000
Alec BurlesonP100--

Winn at SS (0.994, 64 DP) is the anchor -- a plus defender behind a GB-leaning May. Scott in CF (136 G, 0.982) handles the ground at loanDepot. Walker (RF) and Saggese (LF tonight) are average or below at the corners -- Miami's LD-heavy line (Stowers .696 LD AVG, Marsee .683) will test them on flares and doubles.

2K: BALLPARK CONTEXT & HEAD-TO-HEAD

Head-to-head through 2022-2025: Cardinals 14-11 across the last four seasons (2025: 3-3, 2024: 3-3, 2023: 4-3, 2022: 4-2). An even series in most years. loanDepot park plays as a pitcher-leaning venue historically; no park-factor number is in the JSON, so no number is cited.

2L: BATTER K%/BB% PROFILE

Cardinals

PlayerPAKK%BBBB%
Alec Burleson5447914.5%397.2%
Masyn Winn53710219.0%346.3%
Victor Scott46311124.0%429.1%
Ivan Herrera4508418.7%439.6%
Jordan Walker39612631.8%297.3%
Ramon Urias3918822.5%276.9%
Thomas Saggese2958328.1%165.4%
Yohel Pozo1682213.1%74.2%

Walker (31.8% K) and Saggese (28.1% K) are both above the 25% high threshold -- strikeout exposure in the 4-8 slots. Burleson (14.5%) and Pozo (13.1%) are the contact anchors. Saggese's 5.4% BB and Pozo's 4.2% BB are both below the 6% low threshold -- don't expect free passes from either.

Marlins

PlayerPAKK%BBBB%
Xavier Edwards6198814.2%497.9%
Otto Lopez5948213.8%447.4%
Agustín Ramírez58511319.3%366.2%
Kyle Stowers45712527.4%4810.5%
Liam Hicks3905614.4%4311.0%
Javier Sanoja3424112.0%195.6%
Connor Norby3379026.7%185.3%
Heriberto Hernandez2947726.2%3110.5%
Jakob Marsee2344820.5%229.4%
Graham Pauley1843619.6%2111.4%
Austin Slater1605131.9%116.9%
Leo Jimenez32825.0%26.3%
Owen Caissie271140.7%13.7%

Miami has more contact at the top (Edwards 14.2% K, Lopez 13.8%, Sanoja 12.0%) and more swing-and-miss among the depth pieces (Stowers 27.4%, Norby 26.7%, Hernández 26.2%, Slater 31.9%, Caissie 40.7%). May's 21.1% K% can punish the tail if he reaches it. The top-third is the contact group that must be navigated with stuff, not misses.

2M: BATTER BATTED BALL PROFILE

Cardinals

PlayerBIPGB%FB%LD%
Alec Burleson39842.0%33.4%24.6%
Masyn Winn37639.6%34.0%26.3%
Ivan Herrera28552.6%21.8%25.6%
Victor Scott25940.2%32.0%27.8%
Ramon Urias25345.1%29.2%25.7%
Jordan Walker23148.9%29.4%21.6%
Thomas Saggese18941.8%29.6%28.6%
Yohel Pozo13340.6%33.1%26.3%

Cardinals batted-ball shape vs Paddack's 34.3% FB / 38.6% GB profile: Burleson, Winn, Scott, and Pozo are all in the 33-34% FB range -- their contact meets Paddack's fly-ball tendency, which is how his 4 HR already get surrendered. Herrera's 52.6% GB may not unlock the power today.

Marlins

PlayerBIPGB%FB%LD%
Xavier Edwards45347.9%24.5%27.6%
Otto Lopez44650.4%25.6%24.0%
Agustín Ramírez40349.4%26.6%24.1%
Liam Hicks26944.6%26.0%29.4%
Javier Sanoja25847.3%25.6%27.1%
Kyle Stowers24943.0%29.3%27.7%
Connor Norby21340.8%32.9%26.3%
Heriberto Hernandez16945.6%30.8%23.7%
Jakob Marsee15646.2%27.6%26.3%
Graham Pauley12140.5%36.4%23.1%
Austin Slater9149.5%24.2%26.4%
Leo Jimenez2050.0%30.0%20.0%
Owen Caissie1428.6%28.6%42.9%

Miami is ground-ball heavy across the top (Lopez 50.4%, Ramírez 49.4%, Slater 49.5%, Edwards 47.9%), which fits the shape May wants -- his 44.1% GB profile is designed to collect these outs. Stowers (43.0% GB / 29.3% FB / 27.7% LD) is the one who hits the air effectively. Hicks' 29.4% LD is the lineup's highest line-drive signal, a secondary threat.

2N: PITCHER K%/BB% PROFILE

PitcherIPKK%BBBB%K/BB
Chris Paddack158.011216.7%375.5%3.03
Dustin May132.112321.1%569.6%2.20

Paddack's K/BB (3.03) is the command edge -- he misses fewer bats (16.7% K%) but walks almost no one (5.5% BB%). May has the better strikeout rate (21.1%) but nearly doubles Paddack's walk rate (9.6%) -- his free passes are the self-inflicted escape hatch for the Miami lineup.

KEY MATCHUPS & WATCHLIST

Otto Lopez vs Dustin May. 2-for-2 career (tiny sample) plus .270/.333/.413 vs RHP across 403 PA with 12 HR and 50.4% GB (Section 2M). Scored 2 runs yesterday. First Marlin May has to solve.

Alec Burleson vs Chris Paddack. No BvP on record, but Burleson is .296/.353/.478 vs RHP in 419 PA (Section 2C) and Paddack has allowed 18 HR to LHB in 345 PA (Section 2D). Third in the order.

Kyle Stowers vs May. .297/.377/.597 vs RHP, 24 HR in 356 PA (Section 2C). May's vs-LHB line (.495 SLG, 15 HR) is the matchup that fits Stowers' profile worst for St. Louis.

May's TTO window. .573 OPS TTO1 -> .798 TTO2 (Section 2E). Innings 4-6 are the danger zone.

Edwards on the bases. 27 SB / 7 CS career, 79.4% (Section 2I). Herrera-May battery is brand new (Section 2H) -- pop-time risk.

Bullpen fork. Romero 88.5% strand vs Svanson 50.0% and Fernandez 50.0% (Section 2F). Middle-inning handoff decides tight games.

X-factor: Paddack's TTO3 cliff (.660 OPS, Section 2E). If the Cardinals force a third pass, they steal the game late.

QUICK REFERENCE -- IN-GAME QUERIES

1. How has Dustin May performed in his most recent start vs LHB?
2. What is the Cardinals' record in road series openers this season?
3. Show me Chris Paddack's pitch mix vs Burleson or other LHB tonight.
4. What is Otto Lopez's career split vs RHB with 2 strikes?
5. How often does Xavier Edwards attempt a steal when leading off an inning?
6. Show me JoJo Romero's usage over the last 7 days.
7. What is Kyle Stowers' career SLG vs fastballs 95+ mph?

700 CLARK -- POWERED BY BASES.CHAT | HISTORICAL DATA THROUGH 2025