Los Angeles Angels vs St. Louis Cardinals Prediction – 3/31/2025

Los Angeles Angels vs St. Louis Cardinals Betting Preview

As the St. Louis Cardinals prepare to face off against the Los Angeles Angels on March 31, 2025, both teams come into this Interleague matchup with strong starts to the season. The Cardinals sit at 3-0, while the Angels boast a 2-1 record. This game marks the first in their series, and it promises to be an intriguing contest given the contrasting strengths of both teams.

Miles Mikolas is projected to take the mound for St. Louis. Although he ranks as the 304th best starting pitcher in MLB according to advanced-stat Power Rankings, he’s expected to pitch an average of 5.3 innings while allowing 2.5 earned runs. However, his projections suggest he may struggle with strikeouts and hits allowed, which could play a crucial role in the game’s outcome. On the other side, Tyler Anderson will start for Los Angeles. His projections indicate he will pitch around 5.0 innings and also allow 2.5 earned runs, but he, too, faces challenges with a low strikeout rate and high hits allowed.

Offensively, the Cardinals hold a slight edge, ranking 15th in MLB overall, with a solid 11th in team batting average. However, they rank poorly in home runs and stolen bases, sitting at 22nd in both categories. The Angels, conversely, rank 26th overall and 28th in team batting average, indicating they might struggle to capitalize on scoring opportunities.

With the Cardinals having a high implied team total of 4.50 runs, and considering their strong start, they may be in a favorable position to secure a win. Meanwhile, the Angels will need to rely on their bullpen, which is ranked 1st in MLB, to keep the game competitive. The Game Total is set at 8.5 runs, suggesting a potentially close contest.

Quick Takes Los Angeles Angels:

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) expects Tyler Anderson to have a pitch count in this game, projecting a maximum of 85 pitches.

• A pitcher who is on a pitch count is likely to be pulled from the game earlier, record fewer outs, and generate fewer strikeouts.

In terms of his wOBA and overall offense, Luis Rengifo has experienced some positive variance since the start of last season. His .335 rate has been a fair amount higher than the leading projection system (THE BAT X)'s version of Statcast-based Expected wOBA (xwOBA) at .288.

• xwOBA uses highly advanced Statcast data to measure a player's overall hitting ability more accurately than actual wOBA can.

The Los Angeles Angels have 3 batters in their projected offense today with a high (i.e. over 27%) underlying K% (per the leading projection system, THE BAT X) (Kyren Paris, Logan O'Hoppe, Mike Trout).

• Teams that have multiple high-strikeout hitters will make it much easier for the opposing pitcher to record strikeouts

Quick Takes St. Louis Cardinals:

Miles Mikolas has suffered from bad luck when it comes to his ERA since the start of last season; his 5.35 mark is significantly inflated relative to his 4.27 FIP (Fielding Independent Pitching, an estimator of ERA that focuses on the things a pitcher has the most control over).

• Pitchers that are underperforming should be expected to pitch better going forward, which can create value if the lines are too heavily weighing the lucky, to-date underperformance.

Brendan Donovan has primarily hit in the top-half of the batting order this year (100% of the time), but he is projected to bat 7th on the lineup card in this matchup.

• The lower in the order a player bats, the fewer plate appearances he will get and the fewer opportunities he will get to hit the Over for every market. A player who hits lower in the order than he normally does may provide extra value opportunity since the market may be based on him hitting higher.

St. Louis Cardinals batters jointly place 27th- in the majors for power since the start of last season when assessing with their 6.9% Barrel%.

• Barrel% measures how often a player hits the ball at the optimal exit velocity and launch angle and is a terrific measure of underlying power.

Game Trends

• The St. Louis Cardinals have hit the Moneyline in 20 of their last 35 games (+6.80 Units / 17% ROI)
• The Los Angeles Angels have hit the Game Total Under in 54 of their last 104 games (+7.10 Units / 6% ROI)
• Jorge Soler has hit the Home Runs Over in 3 of his last 9 away games (+4.55 Units / 51% ROI)

• Date: March 31, 2025
• Venue: Busch Stadium
• Starting Pitchers:
  • Tyler Anderson - Angels
  • Miles Mikolas - Cardinals

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