Chicago Cubs vs St. Louis Cardinals – Series Preview (June 14-16): Overview, Game and Broadcast Info, Starting Pitchers, W2W4
The Cubs (33-36) continue to struggle mightily after a 2-5 trip to Cincinnati and Tampa has them back at their season-low three games under the .500 mark. The same weak spots have plagued the North Siders all year long: a sputtering offense and a very shaky bullpen. Next on the schedule is a matchup at Wrigley Field against the rival Cardinals.
St. Louis has been treading water since taking two from Chicago at Busch Stadium in May, going 8-8 in their last 16 games. Their bats are starting to heat up after a very slow start, but the .680 team OPS is still tied with the Cubs for 19th in MLB. Nolan Gorman is the biggest power threat with 15 homers and Paul Goldschmidt proved in that May series he can still punish pitchers’ mistakes.
The Cardinals’ pitching has also tightened up a bit and the bullpen has been pretty effective. Ryan Helsley has a whopping 22 saves in 2024 and has been one of the best closers in the league.
Chicago is catching a break this series by avoiding Sonny Gray, who has been the Cards’ best starter so far. Though the rest of the rotation has been middling at best, facing Cubs hitters seems to make every pitching staff look much better.
Answers have been difficult to come by as Craig Counsell‘s squad has lost eight of their last nine series and required a pair of multi-run comebacks against the historically awful White Sox to get that lone win. It’s not easy to feel positive about anything at the moment and the season is on the verge of crashing and burning. If the Cubs are ever going to snap out of this it’s probably now or never.
Game Time and Broadcast Info
- Friday, June 14 at 1:20pm CT on MLB Network (out of market only) and Marquee.
- Saturday, June 15 at 1:20pm CT on Marquee.
- Sunday, June 16 at 12:05pm CT on Roku.
Starting Pitchers
| Date | Pitcher | Age | T | ERA | W/L | FIP | K/BB |
| 6/14 | Jordan Wicks | 24 | L | 4.44 | 1-2 | 3.22 | 3.00 |
| Kyle Gibson | 36 | R | 3.76 | 4-2 | 4.35 | 2.23 | |
| 6/15 | Shōta Imanaga | 30 | L | 1.96 | 6-1 | 2.86 | 6.55 |
| Andre Pallante | 25 | R | 4.88 | 2–2 | 4.44 | 1.42 | |
| 6/16 | Jameson Taillon | 32 | R | 3.09 | 3-2 | 3.87 | 2.86 |
| Miles Mikolas | 35 | R | 4.85 | 4-6 | 4.33 | 3.93 |
What to Watch For
- Michael Busch reached base five times against Tampa and his .792 OPS is the second-highest on the team.
- Imanaga only gave up two runs and pitched into the 7th inning against the Reds after having two bad starts in a row.
- Cody Bellinger has nine hits in his last five games.
