MLB Picks 8/3 – Cardinals @ Yankees

by Thomas Quaynor for Wannamakeabet.com

The St. Louis Cardinals (55-57) open a three-game set on the road against the New York Yankees (63-49) tonight at Yankee Stadium. This will be the only meeting of the year between the storied franchises. The Yankees picked up a three-game sweep of the Cardinals in St. Louis when these teams previously faced each other in August of last season. 

St. Louis won 5-1 at Toronto yesterday. They scored four runs in the ninth inning to secure the victory and avoided a three-game sweep. All-Star outfielder Jordan Walker went 2-for-5 with 2 RBI in the win. Michael Liberatore struck out seven over six scoreless innings but did not factor in the decision. The Cardinals had dropped 6 of 7 games prior to yesterday’s victory.  

New York held on for a 2-1 victory against the Cubs in Chicago yesterday. Gerrit Cole (5-5) struck out five and gave up one earned run over 5.2 inning to earn his fifth win of the season. Jose Caballero’s two-run homer in the third inning provided New York’s only runs of the game. He finished the game 2-for-3 with a walk. The Yankees took two of three from the Cubs in the weekend series.

New York will return home tonight after concluding a 10-game road trip against the Philadelphia Phillies (3 games), Chicago White Sox (4 games) and Chicago Cubs (3 games). The Yankees finished the long road trip with a 6-4 record. This evening’s contest against St. Louis will begin a 10-game homestand for the Yankees. 

Tonight’s starters are Michael McGreevy (4-9, 3.57 ERA, 76 strikeouts in 21 starts) for St. Louis and All-Star Cam Schlittler (10-6, 2.04 ERA, 165 strikeouts in 23 starts) for New York. 

GAME ODDS

Moneyline: St. Louis (+168),   New York (-205)

Run Line: St. Louis +1.5 (-125),   New York -1.5 (+103)

Run Total: over 8 (-105),   under 8 (-115)

GAME STORYLINES: ST. LOUIS

The St. Louis Cardinals are one of the oldest and most successful franchises in MLB. They were established in 1883 and have won 11 World Series titles — their most recent World Series crowns were in 2006 and 2011. But they’ve failed to make the postseason for the last three seasons, and are in danger of missing the playoffs for a fourth straight season. The last time the Cardinals missed the postseason for four straight seasons was over 30 years ago in 1995.

A faulty pitching staff — particularly, an elite ace at the top of the rotation, along with the lack of a star slugger in the lineup has doomed the Cardinals over the last three seasons.

The Cardinals appeared to have turned things around this season as they were above .500 through the entire first half of the season. St. Louis headed into the All-Star break with a respectable 50-45 record and were primed to secure one of the three Wild Card spots. But they’ve nosedived during the second half of the season up to this point. The Cardinals are 5-12 since the All-Star break.

The catalyst for St. Louis’ steady first-half was the pristine play of All-Star outfielder Jordan Walker. The 24-year-old, 6-foot-6 superstar is experiencing a breakout campaign this year in his fourth MLB season. He arrived in the MLB with huge expectations after the Cardinals selected him in the first round of the 2020 MLB draft (20th overall) out of high school. Walker made it to the majors at the age of 20 in 2023. But he struggled during his first 3 years with the Cardinals and spent large stints in the minors due to his poor plate awareness.

Jordan Walker’s inconsistencies are now long gone as he’s living up to the lofty expectations bestowed upon him when the Cardinals drafted him in the first round six years ago as an 18-year-old. Walker is batting .283 with 22 homers, 81 RBI, 23 doubles and 14 steals across 110 games. He was selected as an All-Star this year for the first time in his career and also won the 2026 Home Run derby during the All-Star game festivities. 

The trio of first baseman Alec Burleson (.284, 15 HR, 71 RBI, 27 doubles in 111 gms), rookie standout JJ Wetherhold (.249, 16 HR, 41 RBI, 12 steals in 106 gms) and designated hitter Ivan Herrera (.242, 12 HR, 46 RBI in 111 gms) have been excellent alongside Jordan Walker. Weatherholt was the Cardinals’ top minor league prospect prior to this year after being selected 7th overall in the 2024 MLB draft out of West Virginia, and he’s living up to the hype. Weatherholt is the favorite (-170) to win the 2026 National League Rookie of the Year. 

The young and talented foursome of Jordan Walker, Alec Burleson, JJ Wetherhold and Ivan Herrera were all drafted/signed by the Cardinals and developed through their minor league system. All four guys should figure prominently in the future of the St. Louis Cardinals and provide a strong foundation to build around. 

GAME STORYLINES: NEW YORK

Last season, the New York Yankees finished with an AL-leading 94-68 record for a second straight year. All-World slugger Aaron Judge also captured the American League MVP for a second straight year. The top-seeded, 94-win Yankees advanced to the 2024 World Series where they fell to the Los Angeles Dodgers. Last year, division-rival Toronto also won 94 games and held the tiebreakers over the Yankees, which dropped New York to the No. 4 seed. The Yankees would go on to lose to the higher-seeded Blue Jays in the divisional (second) round of the playoffs. 

Despite coming up short of a second straight World Series appearance last year, the Yankees did not make any splashy offseason additions. New York’s only significant moves in the offseason was re-signing star slugger Cody Bellinger to a five-year, $162 million deal and welcoming back veteran All-Star starting pitcher Gerrit Cole, who missed last season after undergoing Tommy John surgery.

New York entered the 2026 season with their usual robust projections, they were the favorites to win the AL pennant (+450) and the AL East (+215), and had the highest projected win total in the American League at 90.5. 

Everything was going according to plan for the New York Yankees through the first three months or so of the season. They were a season-high 18 games over .500 at 45-27 on June 17. New York’s 45-27 mark was the best record in the American League, and they held a 3.5 game lead over the second-place Tampa Bay Rays. Unfortunately, the Yankees would be besieged by injuries beginning in June, and the injury bug is still plaguing the team currently, almost two months later.

New York’s injury woes began when reigning back-to-back AL MVP Aaron Judge went down. The 34-year-old superstar slugger suffered a stress fracture in his right rib against the Athletics on May 31 and has not played since. Judge was expected to miss 4-to-6 weeks, but he’s been out for over two months and there is still no timetable for his return. Judge was on pace for another monstrous, MVP-caliber season as he had 17 homers in 59 contests prior to the injury.

Fellow sluggers Trent Grisham (20 gms missed), Giancarlo Stanton (88 gms missed and counting) and Cody Bellinger (10 gms and counting) also missed significant amounts of games due to injuries. Stanton and Bellinger are currently on the IL. Stanton has not played since April 24 due to a right calf strain and is not close to returning. Bellinger (.259, 11 HR, 53 RBI in 102 gms) suffered a Grade 2 left hamstring strain in a July 25 win at Philadelphia. He’s expected to miss 4-to-6 weeks. 

New York has gone 18-22 since they were a season-best 18 games over .500 (45-27) on June 17, mainly because of the injuries. They led the second-place Tampa Bay Rays by 3.5 games in the AL East on June 17 and now trail the first-place Rays by 2.5 games. There is still plenty of time for New York to overtake Tampa Bay because they only trail by 2.5 games but missing three elite power hitters (Aaron Judge, Cody Bellinger, Giancarlo Stanton) in the lineup for what could be the rest of the regular season may be too much for the Yankees to overcome. 

The young duo of third-year first baseman Ben Rice (.266, 31 HR, 73 RBI, 19 doubles in 107 gms) and second-year starting pitcher Cam Schlittler (10-6, 2.04 ERA, 165 strikeouts in 23 gms) emerging as superstars this season has kept New York afloat amidst all of the injuries.

The 27-year-old Ben Rice is carrying the team offensively in a somewhat similar fashion to the incomparable Aaron Judge. He leads the team in homers and RBI, and was named an All-Star for the first time in his career this year. The 25-year-old Cam Schlittler takes the mound tonight against St. Louis. His 2.04 ERA ranks second in MLB behind Milwaukee’s Jacob Misiorowski.

Yesterday, New York made a significant addition ahead of today’s trade deadline when they landed Washington Nationals star first baseman Luis Garcia Jr. The Yankees gave up four pitching prospects in exchange for Garcia. The 26-year-old Garcia was compiling a magnificent season with Washington hitting .283 with 23 homers and 76 RBI across 104 games. Garcia should have a major impact on the lineup as his 23 homers would rank second on the Yankees and his 76 RBI would lead the team. 

THE PICK: YANKEES (Run Line)

This one is easy, New York returns home after a long road trip and they have their young ace Cam Schlittler taking the mound against a team who is struggling to score runs in St. Louis. Take the Yankees on the Run Line!