The St. Louis Cardinals and the Los Angeles Dodgers meet Thursday in MLB action from Dodger Stadium. Here’s a Cardinals vs Dodgers prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best bets for the game. We will examine:
- The St. Louis Cardinals recent form and player performance
- The Los Angeles Dodgers recent form and player performance
- Recent betting trends and streaks involving the St. Louis Cardinals
- Recent betting trends and streaks involving the Los Angeles Dodgers
- Recent betting trends in games played between the Cardinals and Dodgers
- A summary that ties it all together and produces a favorable betting outcome for the Cardinals vs Dodgers game
St. Louis Cardinals Betting Preview
The Cardinals didn’t do very well last season—to put it mildly. St. Louis finished a rough 71-91 overall, tumbling to the basement of the National League Central (five games behind Pittsburgh). It was the Cardinals’ first last-place finish since way back in 1990 and their first losing season since 2007.
Miles Mikolas will take the starting role on the mound Thursday in an attempt to start out the 2024 season on a high note. Mikolas posted a 2-0 record over five starts in Spring Training, notching a 2.14 ERA and 15 strikeouts in 21.0 innings of work. Last year, Mikolas was 9-13 with a 4.78 ERA overall in 35 starts. The Cardinals will face the Padres and Marlins following this series against LAD.
Los Angeles Dodgers Betting Preview
Over on the Dodgers’ side, they had a significantly better campaign in 2023. Los Angeles went 100-62 overall for a first-place finish in the National League West. It was LA’s fourth straight 100-plus win season (in non-shortened campaigns). The Dodgers’ postseason hopes blew up with an NLDS sweep by the Diamondbacks, though.
It’ll be Tyler Glasnow in the starting pitcher slot for the Dodgers on Thursday. This year in Spring Training, Glasnow posted a 1-0 run with a 0.90 ERA in three starts. In his first start of the 2024 season (in South Korea), Glasnow put up a no-decision with 5.0 innings and two earned.
Los Angeles Dodgers Team Facts
- The Dodgers have won each of their last seven day games following a loss.
- The Dodgers have covered the run line in each of their last seven day games following a loss.
- The Dodgers have trailed after 3 innings in each of their last five games as favorites against National League opponents.
- The Dodgers have trailed after 7 innings in each of their last five games as favorites against National League opponents.
- The Dodgers have trailed after 5 innings in each of their last five games as favorites against National League opponents.
St. Louis Cardinals Team Facts
- The Cardinals have lost seven of their last eight games at Dodger Stadium.
- The Cardinals have failed to cover the run line in four of their last five games at Dodger Stadium.
- The Cardinals have trailed after 5 innings in each of their last five games at Dodger Stadium.
- The ‘Inning 1 OVER 0.5 runs’ market has hit in each of the Cardinals’ last four games.
- The Cardinals have lost the first inning in each of their last three day games against National League opponents.
Cardinals vs Dodgers Prediction
I’ll stay with the Dodgers here. Los Angeles already has a couple of games in the books this year, splitting a pair with the Padres in South Korea on March 20 and 21. Glasnow started the March 20 outing and did reasonably well despite four walks and just three Ks in 5.0 frames. He should be good for a quality start here as well.
The major storyline following the Dodgers right now is the gambling scandal involving Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter. The investigation is ongoing, and it remains to be seen how everything will shake out. It’ll be a dark cloud over the Dodgers’ early-season campaign and subtracts from a pretty darn great lineup otherwise. All of that aside however, Los Angeles should have more than enough firepower to outpace the Cardinals on the scoreboard Thursday.