Kansas City Royals vs St. Louis Cardinals Matchup Preview - May 29th, 2023

Mike Mayers (252nd ranked SP via The Sharp Model) is projected to take the mound for Royals as they battle the Cardinals and Adam Wainwright (227th ranked SP) at Busch Stadium. The quick scouting report on Mayers: his main fastball is a four-seamer, which he uses 44.5% of the time. His primary out-pitch is a slider (33.4%). Meanwhile, Wainwright primarily throws a cut-fastball (27.8%) and his most-used secondary offering is his curveball (30.1%). The Sharp Model X projects Mayers for 2.5 earned runs and 2.9 strikeouts in this matchup. On the other side, Wainwright is forecasted for 3.3 earned runs and 4.4 strikeouts.

Kansas City Royals Insights

• Putting up 8 strikeouts, Mike Mayers showed excellent form in his previous GS.

• Going up against St. Louis (#1-best on the slate today), Nicky Lopez, known for his prowess in hitting extreme groundballs, must contend with their solid infield defense.

• According to The Sharp Model, the Kansas City Royals' bullpen profiles as the 10th-worst among all the teams in the game.

St. Louis Cardinals Insights

• A longer leash than the average pitcher has been granted to Adam Wainwright since the start of last season, as he tosses 8.0 more adjusted pitches-per-game compared to the average pitcher.

• Although Alec Burleson has mostly batted in the top-half of the lineup this season (60% of the time), he is expected to hit in the 8th spot in the lineup for this game.

• Nolan Arenado pulls a high percentage of his flyballs (42.4% — 100th percentile) and and has the misfortune of hitting them towards baseball's 6th-deepest LF fences today.

Betting Trends

• The St. Louis Cardinals have hit the Game Total Over in 16 of their last 26 games at home (+6.25 Units / 22% ROI)

• The Kansas City Royals have hit the Game Total Under in 12 of their last 17 away games (+7.45 Units / 40% ROI)

• Edward Olivares has hit the Runs Over in 4 of his last 5 games (+5.30 Units / 106% ROI)