St. Louis Cardinals probable pitchers & starting lineup vs. Milwaukee Brewers, April 7

Probable Starting Pitchers

Getting his second start of the year for the St. Louis Cardinals is right-hander Jack Flaherty, who gave up zero runs or hits in five innings of work while allowing seven walks in his season debut against the Toronto Blue Jays. Flaherty is looking to prove that he is ready to regain his status as a front-line starter in baseball, and he'll have another opportunity tonight to prove that.

For the Milwaukee Brewers, their two-time All-Star Brandon Woodruff will be facing this elite Cardinals' lineup. In his first start this year, Woodruff went six innings, allowing just one run on three hits and one walk while striking out eight batters.

In three starts against St. Louis last year, Woodruff was 2-1 with a 1.20 ERA. The Cardinals' lineup is deeper this season and will look to repeat good performances against other elite right-handers to start this season.

St. Louis Cardinals starting lineup

Cardinals Storyline: Tyler O'Neill returns to the starting lineup

After a very public back and forth this past week with manager Oli Marmol over Tyler O'Neill's level of hustle and effort, the outfielder is returning to the lineup tonight for the Cardinals.

This is hopefully a sign of reconciliation between the player and manager, and O'Neill has the ability to take the Cardinals' lineup to the next level every single night. So far in 2023, O'Neill is slashing .278/.316/.444 with 1 HR and 2 RBI and could heat up even more to look like his top-10 MVP candidate self from 2021.

O'Neill has a pretty good history against Woodruff that the Cardinals' will hope to see from him today, as he's 4-15 with 3 HR against the Brewers starter.

Brewers storyline: Can they continue their hot start?

The Brewers are 5-1 to start the season, and so far, have hit much better than much have expected them to this season.

Brian Anderson, Joey Wiemer, and Garrett Mitchell all have over a 1.000 OPS on the young season, while guys like Brice Turang and Jesse Winker have been hitting as well.

Outside of Corbin Burnes, the Brewers staff has pitched really well so far, making them a tough team for the Cardinals to end their three-game skid against. This series could show how much of a fight the NL Central crown will be for St. Louis this year.