Elly De La Cruz has demonstrated power and speed with 26 doubles, seven triples, and 20 home runs in 2024. His ability to make damaging contact has improved, as evidenced by an increase in his barrel rate from 8.5% to 13.6%, placing him in the 88th percentile among qualified hitters. He has improved his plate discipline, reducing his swing rate at out-of-zone pitches from 32.8% to 25.1%, below the league average of 28.4%. Elly De La Cruz is ranked 7th in the National League for total bases this year, with 217. He’s batting .290 with a .560 slugging percentage against right-handed pitchers compared to .213/.353 BA/Slug vs. lefties. Cruz is poised to break out tonight after three straight sub-par games.

Sonny Gray had some bumps in the road in July, but he appears to be back on track after two solid starts. Meanwhile, Andrew Abbott has struggled over his last few starts and that hasn't been helped by giving up quite a few long balls. The Cardinals bats have been heating up a bit against lefties and they're closing in on a wild card spot. Their bullpen isn't my favorite, but I still think we are getting a good number on the better pitcher right now.

Andrew Abbott performed above expectations, particularly in the strikeout department in his rookie season. Abbott was a major regression candidate and has come back down to earth in his sophomore campaign. Abbott sports an uninspiring 9.2% SwStr% which is down from last season's 10.8%. He gets a very tough matchup against a stingy Cardinals lineup that possesses the 7th lowest K Rate against opposing southpaws. St. Louis also has excellent career numbers against Abbott (albeit small sample).