Bettors are still feeling out teams and starters, and there’s a long way to go in the 162-game season, but with NBA and NHL teams getting eliminated every day at this point, it’s time to lock in and get ready for the long summer that is baseball-only season.
Not that that’s a bad thing. There’s plenty of money to be made, and we like these three bets today:
The Blue Jays need to figure out their hitting woes. They’ve lost four in a row and seven of their last ten, and they’re starting to cede real ground, not just to the league-leading Yankees but also the second place Rays in the AL East.
The Rays won this matchup yesterday, and there’s reason to think they should again as even-money ML underdogs. Toronto is putting Hyun-Jin Ryu and his 13.50 ERA on the mound against the team with the seventh highest batting average in the league against lefties.
They’re also 6-1 straight up in divisional games and won their only other contest so far this season as a home dog.
George Kirby was pretty remarkable in his first major league start for the Mariners last week. The rookie, who was selected in the first round of the 2019 draft, threw six innings of shutout ball (with seven Ks) against Tampa, but in his second start, he draws New York’s “Amazins” – the Mets.
It’s a tough assignment, as New York has the second best batting average in all of baseball so far this season against righties. Seattle, meanwhile, is a middle of the road team against right-handers and will face Chris Bassitt in this one. He sports a 2.45 ERA so far in 2022, and his opponents have the sixth worst batting average and slugging percentage over the last two weeks. Those struggles at the plate will continue in this one as the Mets cover the run line.
Arizona might feature the league’s most underrated pitching staff. Collectively, they are a top ten team in baseball in terms of slugging percentage, hard hit ball percentage, and exit velocity. Their best starter so far this season has been Zac Gallen, who’s 2-0 with an 0.95 ERA.
He’s facing off against Kyle Hendricks for the Cubs, who’s been merely OK so far this season with a 4.38 ERA, but as good as Arizona’s pitching has been, it’s hitting vs. righties has been awful. The team has the second worst batting average vs. right-handers, while Chicago is also a bottom ten team by that metric.
That should allow this one to stay fairly low scoring. It might not bring Gallen’s ERA down, but only because there’s not much room left to go there.
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