The St. Louis Cardinals secured a win on Saturday night against the Chicago Cubs, giving them a chance to walk away with a series split as they head into a Sunday Night Baseball showdown on August 4.
Can Miles Mikolas and the Cardinals even up the series? Or will Justin Steele and the Cubs get the win under the bright Wrigley lights to bring home the series win?
Continue reading for free MLB player prop picks for Cardinals vs. Cubs on Sunday Night Baseball on August 4. And don't miss our full Cardinals vs. Cubs predictions!
Cardinals vs Cubs Sunday Night Baseball props
- Happ Over 1.5 total bases (+125 at bet365)
- Hoerner Over 1.5 total bases (+155 at bet365)
- Steele Under 5.5 strikeouts (-130 at DraftKings)
Picks made on 8-4 at 2:30 p.m. ET.
Read full analysis of each pick.
Cardinals vs Cubs SNB props
Prop bet #1: Ian Happ Over 1.5 total bases
Miles Mikolas (8-8, 4.99 ERA) will take the mound for the St. Louis Cardinals tonight to close out the series against the Chicago Cubs, and unfortunately for Mikolas and St. Louis, he doesn't have the greatest track record against the Chicago batters he has faced the most.
That includes Ian Happ, who has a team-high 42 plate appearances against Mikolas in his career. He has hit to a very impressive .325 with nearly half of his hits against Mikolas being doubles.
Happ has struggled a tad this year with a career-low .228 average, and he has failed to get a hit in this series just yet. But prior to this series Happ had put together a July that was his best month yet at the plate, hitting to a .253 average and cashing on this exact prop twice in the Cubs' four-game set against the Cardinals last month.
Prop bet #2: Nico Hoerner Over 1.5 total bases
Another player who has had Mikolas' number in their career is Nico Hoerner, who has just one fewer hit than Happ in his career against Mikolas (12) in twelve fewer plate appearances (30). To that effect, he has a higher batting average in this split (.400) and slugging percentage (.500).
Like Happ, Hoerner's bat has been better as of late. In July he posted a .262 batting average, and that was his best mark since his season-opening .277 in May. He also has cashed on this prop in four of his last seven games, including twice in this series alone.
And Hoerner's success against Mikolas actually extends to the rest of the St. Louis roster, as he has hit to a .330 average against the group and has struck out just eight times in 97 at bats.
Prop bet #3: Justin Steele Under 5.5 strikeouts
While the Cubs have a favorable matchup swinging the bat, they might not have one on the mound. Justin Steele has struggled as of late, allowing 12 earned runs in his last 15 innings pitched across his last three starts.
This comes after a blistering July during which he posted a 2.13 ERA that was a firm reminder of the form he was pitching to prior to his injury, but things have fallen apart since.
He has posted just a 18.2% strikeout rate against this collection of batters, which is a whopping 6.0% worse than his career rate of 24.2%. The Cardinals as a team have also been great at avoiding punchouts against lefties this year, posting a seventh-best rate of 20.1%.
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