Arizona Diamondbacks vs St. Louis Cardinals

Arizona Diamondbacks at St. Louis Cardinals (2026-06-24). Mitch Bratt vs Matthew Liberatore at Busch Stadium.

Mitch Bratt's season statistics are not available, indicating this may be an early career start or a return from injury, making his performance highly unpredictable. In contrast, Matthew Liberatore has made 15 starts this season, posting a 5.23 ERA and a 1.56 WHIP over 72.1 innings. His strikeout rate is 8.34 K/9, while his walk rate stands at 3.36 BB/9. Liberatore's recent trend shows his ERA is moving down, and he has a 33.3% quality start percentage, with no blow-up starts recorded. His last five starts show a fluctuating performance, with ERAs ranging from 1.64 to 4.29, suggesting inconsistency despite the downward trend in his overall ERA. He has also demonstrated an alternating pattern in his starts, which could indicate a difficult sequence is due.

Offensively, the St. Louis Cardinals have a slight edge with an OPS of 0.727 and 355 runs scored, compared to the Arizona Diamondbacks' 0.692 OPS and 337 runs. The Cardinals also show a slightly higher batting average at .249 against the Diamondbacks' .238, and more home runs with 87 versus 69. On the pitching side, both teams exhibit similar statistics; the Diamondbacks have a team ERA of 4.29 and a WHIP of 1.30, while the Cardinals hold a 4.25 ERA and a 1.34 WHIP. The Cardinals' pitching staff has a slightly higher K/9 at 7.61 compared to the Diamondbacks' 7.09.

The head-to-head history between these two teams in 2025 shows a balanced series, with the Diamondbacks winning three games in July and the Cardinals winning three games in May. Matthew Liberatore has faced the Diamondbacks previously, allowing 6 hits and 4 strikeouts with no walks in an outing where his earned runs were not recorded, indicating some familiarity with their lineup. The total line is not available for this contest, which makes it challenging to assess how the oddsmakers view the potential run environment given the pitching matchup and team offensive capabilities.