There are still some playoff spots to be decided in the final 2 weeks of the MLB betting season, although a good number of those look like total slam dunks for the teams involved. Only 1 team has officially booked their ticket to the playoffs so far, and it is the St. Louis Cardinals. They will have to decide who to play and who to rest over the next 2 weeks, and those decisions will start against the Cincinnati Reds, who they face at Busch Stadium on Wednesday night.
Cincinnati Reds at St. Louis Cardinals Baseball Odds Prediction & Game Info
Date: Wednesday, September 23, 2015Time: 8:15PMVenue: Busch StadiumOpening MLB odds: St Louis -165John Lackey dodges bullets…and catches them..stabbing this liner from Todd Frazier to end the 6th. pic.twitter.com/8SORLzs0nR
— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) September 23, 2015
While the clinching of that playoff spot is not a huge surprise, it is still a marvelous achievement when you consider the injury troubles that have plagued the Cardinals (94-56) all season long. This is why they will have to really think about resting some guys, as they will not want another big injury headache before the serious games begin. The return of Matt Carpenter from the DL is a perfect example, as he ended up getting hit by a pitch in a game versus the Cubs over the weekend. The Cardinals do not need to see a player of that caliber go down with a season ending injury in a game that essentially means nothing. The good news is that St. Louis has a pretty easy schedule over the final 2 weeks, so there should be ample opportunity to give key players a night off. Lance Lynn (11-10, 3.28 ERA) will be on the mound for St. Louis on Wednesday.Few teams have a closing schedule as rough as the Cincinnati Reds (63-86), as all of their series in the final 2 weeks of the regular season will be against teams that are sure to be in the postseason. Worse yet, these games are against teams who are still trying to clinch a division or jockey for playoff seeding, so there is little chance that any of them are going to let up. It promises to be a tough end to season that has been disappointing to say the least. The only bright note is the performance of Todd Frazier, as he became only the second player in Reds history to hit 35 HR and 40 doubles in a single season. Brandon Finnegan (1-0, 2.53 ERA) will get the start for the Reds.