Series Preview: Cardinals kick off second half against D’Backs

The St. Louis Cardinals arguably have the most momentum of any team that did not have a game in the past week as the second half of the season begins today. With Jordan Walker stealing national headlines after putting on a show at the Home Run Derby, more eyes could be on the Cardinals than expected for a rebuilding team.

The start of the final 77 games will be at Chase Field in Arizona as the Diamondbacks will host the Cardinals for a three-game series that, to Paul Sewald’s pleasure, will have little to no chance of being delayed at the covered desert stadium. With two weeks until the trade deadline, the Cardinals have the opportunity to make conversations around the roster more interesting, but we could be nearing the end of a few St. Louis tenures.

The Diamondbacks host the Cardinals as the MLB second half begins

Even with Jordan Walker winning the Home Run Derby in dramatic fashion, there will be plenty watching his second half waiting for his demise so they can pass the blame to the exhibition event. However, preseason expectations for the team sat around .500 or below, so the Cardinals are playing with house money sitting at five games over and a solid chance to move past their win total from each of the previous two seasons. The season has already been a major win overall, but there is plenty of baseball left to make headlines one way or another.

One of the teams looking to jump the Cardinals is the Diamondbacks, who enter the series 1.5 games behind St. Louis and 2.5 games out of the final Wild Card spot. The pitching plans for the Cardinals line up for Michael McGreevy to kick things off, followed by Dustin May and Andre Pallante.

Game one (8:40pm): Michael McGreevy vs. Merrill Kelly

Game two (3:10pm): Dustin May vs. Brandon Pfaadt

Game three (3:10pm): Andre Pallante vs. Eduardo Rodriguez

The two teams begin the second half outside of where they set their preseason expectations, but for the Cardinals, that is a good thing. On the Arizona side of things, they have struggled in a difficult division and are 12 games under (19-31) against teams with a .500 or better record. The pitching matchups may cause some frustrations for hitters, especially on Sunday as each team brings their de facto ace to the bump.

Michael McGreevy will look to get his win-loss record back on track to go along with his 3.01 ERA and will face off against Merrill Kelly, who has been inconsistent all year. In game two, Dustin May looks to continue bolstering his trade value and help the Cardinals out with a win before potentially getting shipped out in a couple weeks. Brandon Pfaadt will take the mound for the D’Backs as he tries to stay hot since returning to the Arizona rotation. In the final game, 10-game winner Andre Pallante will take on southpaw Eduardo Rodriguez, who has had a great bounceback season after back-to-back down years.

It is great to have baseball back and the second half promises to be newsworthy, no matter where the Cardinals finish in the standings. In case you missed it, I put together a little second half primer with Daniel Shoptaw and Ethan Hannaford to keep the good vibes going!