The St. Louis Cardinals () host the Cincinnati Reds () to begin the season at Great American Ball Park on Thursday. The matchup starts at 4:10 PM ET. Cincinnati has Luis Castillo set to start, while St. Louis will counter with Jack Flaherty.
The betting insights and predictions in this article reflect betting data from DraftKings as of March 30, 2021, 3:00 PM ET. See table below for current betting odds and CLICK HERE to bet at DraftKings Sportsbook.
Reds vs Cardinals Betting Odds
Pitching Matchup
The probable pitchers for both teams have not made a start this season. Here are their stats from last season:
| Castillo (CIN) | Pitcher | Flaherty (STL) |
|---|---|---|
| 4 – 6 | W/L | 4 – 3 |
| 70.0 | IP | 40.1 |
| 3.34 | ERA | 4.91 |
| 1.23 | WHIP | 1.21 |
| 11.4 | K/9 | 10.9 |
| 3.1 | BB/9 | 3.6 |
Reds Probable Starter Luis Castillo
- Castillo gets the call to start for the Reds, his first this season.
- The 28-year-old righty started and threw 5 1/3 innings when he last appeared Thursday, Oct. 1 against the Braves.
- Castillo and his team put together a 5-4 record in games he pitched when they were the moneyline favorite a season ago.
Starting pitcher projections reflect team information as of March 30, 2021 at 8:11 PM ET and may change up to the start of game.
Cardinals Probable Starter Jack Flaherty
- The Cardinals will send Flaherty to the mound for his first start this season.
- The last time the 25-year-old pitched was on Friday, Oct. 2 against the Padres. The righty threw six innings as the starter in that matchup.
- Flaherty and his team were defeated as underdogs in both of his two appearances last season with a moneyline.
Starting pitcher projections reflect team information as of March 30, 2021 at 8:11 PM ET and may change up to the start of game.
Reds Betting Trends
- Last season the Reds had the No. 27 offense in baseball scoring 4.1 runs per game (243 total runs).
- The Reds won 56.1% of the games last season they were favored on the moneyline (23-18).
- Cincinnati had a record of 21-16 when playing as a moneyline favorite with odds of -115 or shorter (56.8%).
- Cincinnati had an over/under set by bookmakers 60 times last year, and combined with opponents to go over the total in 25 of those games (25-33-2).
Cardinals Betting Trends
- Last season, the Cardinals won 14 out of the 28 games, or 50%, in which they were the underdog.
- St. Louis had a record of 9-13 in games where oddsmakers had them as underogs of at least +100 on the moneyline.
- Games involving St. Louis went over the total set by bookmakers in 21 of 52 chances last season.
Reds Players to Watch
- Nicholas Castellanos hit .225 last season with 11 doubles, two triples, 14 home runs and 18 walks.
- Castellanos ranked 18th in HR among the qualified hitters in baseball.
- Jesse Winker had seven doubles, 12 home runs and 28 walks while hitting .255.
- Winker ranked 15th in OBP among the qualified hitters in MLB action.
Reds Batting Stats (2020)
| Player | AB | AVG | R | HR | RBI | OBP | OPS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nicholas Castellanos | 218 | .225 | 37 | 14 | 34 | .295 | .781 |
| Eugenio Suárez | 198 | .202 | 29 | 15 | 38 | .309 | .779 |
| Joey Votto | 186 | .226 | 32 | 11 | 22 | .351 | .797 |
| Shogo Akiyama | 155 | .245 | 16 | 0 | 9 | .357 | .654 |
| Jesse Winker | 149 | .255 | 27 | 12 | 23 | .388 | .932 |
| Mike Moustakas | 139 | .230 | 13 | 8 | 27 | .327 | .795 |
| Tyler Naquin | 133 | .218 | 15 | 4 | 20 | .248 | .631 |
| Tucker Barnhart | 98 | .204 | 10 | 5 | 13 | .291 | .679 |
| Nick Senzel | 70 | .186 | 8 | 2 | 8 | .247 | .604 |
| Kyle Farmer | 64 | .266 | 4 | 0 | 4 | .329 | .642 |
Cardinals Players to Watch
- Last season, Paul Goldschmidt hit .304 with six home runs and 21 RBI.
- Goldschmidt ranked 19th in BA (.304), and sixth in OBP (.417) among qualified hitters in MLB.
- Nolan Arenado is batting .253 last season with a team-high eight home runs and 26 RBI.
- Among qualified hitters, Arenado was not among league batting leaders in MLB in the league.
Cardinals Batting Stats (2020)
| Player | AB | AVG | R | HR | RBI | OBP | OPS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tommy Edman | 204 | .250 | 29 | 5 | 26 | .317 | .685 |
| Paul Goldschmidt | 191 | .304 | 31 | 6 | 21 | .417 | .883 |
| Nolan Arenado | 182 | .253 | 23 | 8 | 26 | .293 | .727 |
| Paul DeJong | 152 | .250 | 17 | 3 | 25 | .322 | .671 |
| Yadier Molina | 145 | .262 | 12 | 4 | 16 | .303 | .662 |
| Matt Carpenter | 140 | .186 | 22 | 4 | 24 | .321 | .635 |
| Tyler O’Neill | 139 | .173 | 20 | 7 | 19 | .261 | .621 |
| Dylan Carlson | 110 | .200 | 11 | 3 | 16 | .252 | .616 |
| Andrew Knizner | 16 | .250 | 1 | 0 | 4 | .235 | .548 |
| John Nogowski | 4 | .250 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .250 | .500 |
Reds vs Cardinals Player Props
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