Official Lineup for Angels vs Cardinals – 4/01/2025

Los Angeles Angels

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St. Louis Cardinals

On April 1, 2025, the St. Louis Cardinals will host the Los Angeles Angels at Busch Stadium for the second game of their interleague series. Both teams enter this matchup with identical 3-1 records, showcasing strong starts to their respective seasons. The Cardinals are coming off a narrow 5-4 loss to the Angels yesterday, a game that highlighted their offensive prowess but also revealed some vulnerabilities on the mound.

In this contest, the Cardinals are projected to start left-handed pitcher Matthew Liberatore, who, despite being ranked as the 201st best starting pitcher in MLB, has shown flashes of potential. However, his recent performance has been concerning; in his last outing on July 24, 2024, he was hit hard, allowing 5 earned runs over just 3 innings. The projections suggest he will pitch around 4.5 innings today, allowing 2.2 earned runs while striking out only 4.2 batters on average. His struggles could be a significant factor against an Angels lineup that has been underwhelming so far this season.

On the other side, the Angels will send right-hander Kyle Hendricks to the mound. Hendricks, who has also faced his share of challenges, pitched well in his last start, going 7 innings without allowing a run. He is projected to pitch 5.2 innings today, allowing 2.5 earned runs. While the Cardinals boast the 7th best offense in MLB, the Angels rank a troubling 53rd, indicating a significant disparity in offensive capabilities.

With the Cardinals’ strong batting average and the Angels’ struggles at the plate, the Cardinals are favored with a moneyline of -145 and an implied team total of 4.31 runs. The Game Total sits at a modest 8.0 runs, suggesting a competitive but potentially low-scoring affair. As the teams look to build momentum early in the season, this matchup could be pivotal for both squads.

Los Angeles Angels Insights

• Kyle Hendricks – Over/Under 14.5 Pitching Outs (-165/+125)
  The leading projection system (THE BAT X) expects Kyle Hendricks to have a pitch count in this matchup, projecting a maximum of 83 pitches.
  Explain: A pitcher who is on a pitch count is likely to be pulled from the game earlier, record fewer outs, and generate fewer strikeouts.
• Nolan Schanuel – Over/Under 0.5 Total Bases (-140/+110)
  Since the start of last season, the hardest ball Nolan Schanuel has made contact with reached a maximum exit velocity of 105.9 mph (an advanced metric to study power), ranking in the 2nd percentile.
  Explain: If a player can hit the ball hard even once, it has great predictive power over his ability to do it again. If he’s never hit the ball hard, it’s a sign of a lack of power.
• Los Angeles Angels – 2H Moneyline
  The Los Angeles Angels bullpen projects as the 6th-best in Major League Baseball, according to the leading projection system (THE BAT).
  Explain: Most bettors only consider the starting pitcher, but a strong bullpen sneakily creates a tougher matchup for the opposing offense and suppresses a game’s runs.

St. Louis Cardinals Insights

• Nolan Arenado – Over/Under 1.5 Total Bases (+140/-180)
  Extreme flyball batters like Nolan Arenado usually hit better against extreme groundball pitchers like Kyle Hendricks.
  Explain: This mostly has to do with the way the hitter’s swing plane interacts with the pitch trajectory, and it can create boosted performance across all categories and hidden value few are considering.
• Nolan Arenado – Over/Under 1.5 Total Bases (+140/-180)
  In today’s matchup, Nolan Arenado is at a disadvantage facing the league’s 8th-deepest LF fences given that he hits his flyballs to the pull field at a 42.2% rate (100th percentile).
  Explain: This player’s skill set does not match up particularly well with the park he’s in today, which may lead to worse-than-usual performance.

Betting Trends

• St. Louis Cardinals – Moneyline (-140)
  The St. Louis Cardinals have hit the Moneyline in 22 of their last 38 games (+7.70 Units / 18% ROI)
• Over/Under 8.0 Game Total (-110/-110)
  The Los Angeles Angels have hit the Game Total Under in 52 of their last 102 games (+5.10 Units / 5% ROI)
• Taylor Ward – Over/Under 1.5 Hits Runs and RBIs (-160/+125)
  Taylor Ward has hit the Hits Runs and RBIs Over in 11 of his last 15 away games (+5.85 Units / 33% ROI)