St. Louis Cardinals vs Cincinnati Reds Prediction, Odds and Picks for Today, 05/22/26

The St. Louis Cardinals and Cincinnati Reds are set to play this weekend in the Queen City. These rivals reside in the crowded NL Central, where everyone is above .500. The Reds won 2 of 3 in Philadelphia earlier this week, while the Cardinals ran into a tough pitching staff in Pittsburgh and dropped 2 of 3. On Friday, the weather is a significant factor, as there is rain in the forecast that could make it hard to get this game in at all. That probably makes this a “stay away” spot for me, but if we are playing it, I am going with the Cardinals in the series opener.

The fact that Chris Paddock has reemerged as a Major League starter should tell you all you need to know about the state of the Cincinnati pitching staff. He made his team debut a few days ago, and it went about as you would expect. How the Reds are still favored with Paddock set to start is a mystery to me. The Cardinals will go with Kyle Leahy. Leahy struggled a bit to open the season, but he has turned in 3 good starts in a row — allowing no more than 1 run in each. If you are backing the Reds, you are banking on them outslugging the Cardinals, but I don’t love that angle. St. Louis has been a surprise offense, and they have the better pitcher here. I’ll take that.

Cardinals vs Reds Prediction: St. Louis Cardinals ML (+100) available at the time of publishing. Playable to -115.

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