May 15, 2026Updated 2:18 pm EDT
The St. Louis Cardinals and Kansas City Royals square off on Friday at 8:15 p.m. ET, beginning a three-game series at Busch Stadium. Dustin May (3-4, 4.85 ERA) will start for the Cardinals, who are 25-18 this season and third in the NL Central. Michael Wacha (4-2, 2.63 ERA) is the expected starter for the Royals, who are 19-25 and fifth in the AL Central.
How to watch Kansas City Royals vs. St. Louis CardinalsRoyals vs. Cardinals odds
Injury reportsCardinals
Ramón Urías: 10 Day IL (Elbow), Matt Pushard: 15 Day IL (Knee), Lars Nootbaar: 60 Day IL (Heels)
Royals
Jonathan India: 10 Day IL (Shoulder), Cole Ragans: 15 Day IL (Elbow), Bailey Falter: 15 Day IL (Elbow), Carlos Estévez: 15 Day IL (Foot), Alec Marsh: 60 Day IL (Shoulder), James McArthur: 60 Day IL (Elbow)
Stats to know
St. Louis’ Jordan Walker is slashing .294/.370/.575 this season with 12 home runs (8th in MLB), 32 RBIs (7th in MLB) and an OPS of .945 (8th in MLB). He has a 27.6% strikeout rate and a 10.5% walk rate in 181 plate appearances, and he has scored 33 total runs. Walker has recorded seven steals on 10 attempts.
In 184 plate appearances, Alec Burleson has hit six long balls, tallied 30 RBIs (8th in MLB) and scored 21 runs. He is batting .273/.342/.448 and has posted a 15.8% strikeout rate and a 9.8% walk rate.
Bobby Witt Jr. has hit seven home runs this season. He has also tallied 22 RBIs and has scored 22 runs. In 197 plate appearances, he has recorded a .306 BA, .381 OBP and .503 SLG with an 11.2% walk rate and a 16.8% strikeout rate. He has been effective on the base paths, recording 13 steals on 15 attempts.
In 185 plate appearances, Maikel Garcia has hit three long balls, tallied 18 RBIs and scored 23 runs. He is batting .274/.346/.415 and has posted a 15.1% strikeout rate and a 10.3% walk rate. Garcia has recorded four steals on seven attempts.
This watch guide was created using technology provided by Data Skrive.
Betting/odds, ticketing and streaming links in this article are provided by partners of The Athletic. Restrictions may apply. The Athletic maintains full editorial independence. Partners have no control over or input into the reporting or editing process and do not review stories before publication.
Photo: Jamie Squire, Ishika Samant, Scott Taetsch, Alika Jenner / Getty Images
May 15, 2026
Connections: Sports Edition
Spot the pattern. Connect the terms
Find the hidden link between sports terms
Play today’s puzzle