St. Louis Cardinals infielder Luken Baker will start at designated hitter and bat fifth versus left-hander Martin Perez and the Texas Rangers in Monday's series opener.
Baker went 2-for-4 in his MLB debut against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Sunday. He will bat two spots higher in Monday's matchup while Alec Burleson remains idle versus a southpaw.
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