Series Preview: Cardinals playing for pride as they host the Marlins

The Cardinals have stumbled out of the All-Star break and look to find their footing against the Miami Marlins.

The rollercoaster season has continued out of the All-Star break for the St. Louis Cardinals as they split the series against the San Diego Padres to drop their record since the stoppage to 3-7. This stretch, which included a series loss to the lowly Colorado Rockies, has dropped the Cardinals to nine games out of the NL Central race and has pushed them to 3.5 games behind the Padres for the final Wild Card spot.

While the month has been painful, it at least gave the Cardinals and John Mozeliak an opportunity to commit to a path as they look to be sellers before Thursday’s trade deadline. A full sell-off seems unlikely and the team’s next three games against the Miami Marlins gives them a chance to stick in the playoff race while also building for the future. Of course, as we saw with the Rockies, a series win cannot be expected.

Series Preview: Marlins @ Cardinals

The struggling Cardinals take on the Marlins at a tough time, however, as Miami is 7-3 in their last 10 games and they have won four straight series, including taking two out of three from the Milwaukee Brewers over the weekend. It won’t be easy, but nothing this year has seemed that way for the Cardinals.

GAME ONE, 6:45pm: Edward Cabrera (4-4, 3.48 ERA) vs. Andre Pallante (5-7, 4.91 ERA)

Talk about two pitchers going in complete opposite directions. The Cardinals have been searching for answers from their pitch-to-contact rotation and are hoping that righty Andre Pallante can right the ship for both himself and for the team. In his last 11 starts, Pallante is 1-5 covering 59.2 innings and he has put up a 5.58 ERA over that span. The command issues have reared their ugly head again as he has walked multiple batters in five of his last six starts and has been bitten by those free passes thanks to allowing 33 hits in those games.

Edward Cabrera, on the other hand, could be making his last start with the Marlins as he has put together a solid season while working his way back to full health. While Pallante has struggled recently, Cabrera has gotten better. After a 7.28 ERA in the season’s first month, Cabrera has not had a monthly ERA above 2.89 since and has regained command of his pitches. Through four July starts, the 27-year-old is 2-2 with a 2.66 ERA over 23.2 innings. Over that span, he has walked just one batter and struck out 23. Cabrera has only faced the Cardinals once before and that came in 2023 when he struck out six batters over five innings of work.

GAME TWO, 6:45pm: Sandy Alcantara (5-9, 6.66 ERA) vs. Sonny Gray (10-4, 4.33 ERA)

After telling the Cardinals he had no interest in waiving his no-trade clause, veteran righty Sonny Gray has changed that stance slightly and will consider deals involving a competitor. Of course, the situation will have to be perfect for Gray as he chose St. Louis due to his proximity to home. Like the rest of the Cardinals rotation, though, Gray has hit a bump in his season over his past seven starts. While he has a one-hit shutout to his name over that stretch, he also has five other starts where he did not make it past the fifth inning and has thrown over 80 pitches just one time. Gray has been finding bats too often lately, giving up 11 hits in back-to-back starts. If he can right the ship against the Marlins, he could see his name be brought up more often before Thursday but it still seems unlikely Gray will be in a different uniform this season.

Former Cardinal Sandy Alcantara, like Cabrera, could also be making his final start with the Marlins as he has been brought up constantly in trade rumors dating back to the offseason. After missing last season due to Tommy John, Alcantara has struggled to find his footing with his performance but he has at least been able to shoulder a heavy workload. Since June 16, the righty has thrown at least 91 pitches in all seven outings and has covered 41 innings. The strikeout stuff has not yet returned and he has been working to find his command again but Alcantara proving his health is enough to warrant consideration from around the league. Surprisingly, he is just 1-4 against the Cardinals in his career but has a sparking 1.91 ERA over those six games.

GAME THREE, 6:45pm: Cal Quantrill (3-8, 5.05 ERA) vs. Miles Mikolas (6-7, 4.94 ERA)

In the series finale, Miles Mikolas will get the ball and look to string together positive starts for the first time since May 23. His start against the Padres was enough to give the Cardinals a chance despite only throwing five innings, a number he has surpassed only 10 times over his 20 starts. Mikolas continues to give up plenty of contact and but has commanded the strike zone well. In his past four starts, he has two outings where he has not given up a run but the other two saw him give up 13 runs in 10 innings. He has found plenty of success against the Marlins in his career as Mikolas is 4-1 with a 3.33 ERA in 10 games against Miami.

Miles Mikolas-lite Cal Quantrill will take the ball for the Marlins in the final game of the series and his season has been inconsistent as well. Quantrill is 3-8 on the year but has 11 starts where he has given up one or fewer runs. In five other starts, he has given up at least four runs. The righty has been decent in July, putting up a 3.66 ERA over four starts but the Marlins are hesitant to let him work deep into games. He is averaging just 72 pitches per start this month but has been efficient enough to cover 19.2 innings in those four outings.

Just for fun, I included both starters’ Baseball Savant page because I thought it was fun how similar they were.

NOTES:

• The Cardinals are fielding calls on the typical bullpen names but have apparently expanded that list to at least see interest in controllable pieces like Brendan Donovan, Nolan Gorman, Jojo Romero, John King, and to a lesser extent, Ivan Herrera and Alec Burleson. It would be surprising to see many deals be made around the Cardinals’ position player depth.
• Pedro Pages has been one of the worst catchers and players in all of baseball this season at the plate. Among 226 qualified hitters, Pages ranks near the bottom in all offensive categories and he is the lowest rated catcher among those who have received at least 250 plate appearances.
• Over his last 10 games, Jordan Walker is slashing .314/.385/.457 and has only struck out nine times over his last 35 at-bats while taking four walks. Over that same span, Nolan Arenado has put up a .399 OPS with one RBI.
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