It’s a battle between two teams that cannot be much different from each other. On one side there’s the St. Louis Cardinals – the team whose postseason record is scary good but their regular season could be hit or miss. Then on the other side, there’s the Los Angeles Dodgers – the regular-season juggernauts who often find themselves with the short end of the stick in the postseason. So what will happen when they collide? That’s a billion-dollar question.
Quite literally because the Dodgers have spent over $1 billion this offseason to create a star-studded squad. With the team coming off a string of 100-win seasons, these latest additions have made them even better. But the Cards haven’t been sitting idle either, the team has added multiple pitchers to their squad. However, somewhere along the way, their luck may have eroded. Still, there’s a lot to look out for in this clash for glory between the two World Series juggernauts.
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Multiple stories surround this epic clash of titans
Tyler Glasnow vs Miles Mikolas – a chance to fix their position
Glasnow’s debut against the San Diego Padres wasn’t anything drastically good. Yes, he ended up winning that game but there was a clear lack of control in the ace’s pitching. With 2 runs given in 2 hits and 4 walks, there’s clear room for improvement in the superstar pitcher. The Cardinals would try to exploit this weakness but then they’re suffering from an injury crisis themselves.
The hamstring issue of their ace Sonny Gray has led to Miles Mikolas getting a nod. The pitcher went 9-13 last season with a 4.78 ERA. He started one game against the Dodgers in 2023 but gave away 3 runs and 6 hits during that game. As a result, despite Glasnow still trying to find his footing, the Cards will have difficulty in exploiting that weakness completely.
Shohei Ohtani’s controversy to affect his on-field product?
Shohei Ohtani’s Ippei Mizuhara nightmare may have given sleepless nights to his legal team but what about the superstar? While in his press conference, he looked forward to start his on-field journey again, would this controversy prove to be too much for the two-way phenom? But then again, Ohtani followed up the revelation by almost hitting a homer in game 2 of the Seoul Series. Still, he’ll remain the focal point of this game – after all, he’s baseball’s first $700 million star.
Can the Cardinals move past their injury crisis?
The St. Louis Cardinals are entering the Opening Day without Sonny Gray, Lars Nootbaar, Dylan Carlson, Drew Rom, and Keynan Middleton. In a Spring Training marred with injuries, the Birds perhaps got hit the worst. With the team looking to move on from that 71-win 2023, this injury-laden start has made things tougher for them. The fact that they’re competing against the World Series favorites in their very first series is just a hilarious situation. Luckily for them, the Los Angeles Dodgers have shown a hole in their armor during the Seoul Series but can the Cardinals exploit it? Until then, it’s important to see who is currently the favorite in this battle.
Cardinals or Dodgers? Who will prevail in this historical clash?
It isn’t surprising that the Dodgers are overwhelming favorites in this battle. After all, when isn’t the Blue Crew favorite to lead any series? With the likes of Ohtani and Mookie Betts in their squad, the Los Angeles Dodgers are currently in charge of this competition. As USAToday reported even the odds suggest the same story.
Currently, the Moneyline stands with the St. Louis Cardinals at +185 and the Dodgers at – 225. In short, the Men in Blue are overwhelming favorites in this clash. However one needs to remember series’ between these two teams rarely veer towards complete domination. The fact that last season the Dodgers won 4-3 shows how close the underperforming Cardinals were to winning. So with mere hours to go before the game starts. It’s celebration time, the baseball season is finally here.
Written by
Edited by
Deepanshi Bajaj