St. Louis Cardinals infielder Nolan Arenado will bat third versus left-hander Martin Perez and the Texas Rangers in Monday's series opener.
The Cardinals are giving Nolan Gorman a breather against the Rangers' southpaw, so Arenado will move up a spot. This is only the second time this season Arenado will not be batting cleanup. Willson Contreras will take care of cleanup duty for the Cardinals.
Per numberFire's MLB Heat Map, the Cardinals' implied total is 4.49 and the game total is 9.5. Perez has a 4.91 xFIP, 15.7% strikeout rate, and 41.5% ground-ball rate versus righties this year. He has a 16.7% strikeout rate overall and is yielding 1.48 dingers per nine frames.
Source: Baseball Press