Godzilla is handing out another baseball winner in the matinee game between the Astros and Pirates.
I don’t do a lot of run lines in MLB but this one sticks out like a sore thumb. Boston is hitting everybody and they are averaging nine runs per game against south-paws this season while hitting over .300 as a team.
They’ll be one of the teams least affected by the new restrictions placed on defensive shifts. The aforementioned quickness, butter-smooth glove-work, laser arms, and a general lack of drop off from the starters to the bench players make for a defense of steady hands that would be the envy of every sufferer of Sunday Scaries slouched in their seat at the Sasquatch Saloon.
Toronto has had to score a lot of runs out of necessity because the Jays’ starters have routinely left the offense needing to carry the load. Already, the Blue Jays have given up nine runs on four occasions this season, and the starters carry a combined 4.79 ERA.
Atlanta’s pitching stepped up to start the week, going to St. Louis and holding the Cardinals to seven runs in three wins at Busch Stadium. Given that the Redbirds opened the year by hammering Toronto for 22 runs in three games, Atlanta’s pitching looks like it’s for real.
It’s time to kick that dusty, Charlie-Brown-lookin’ tree out to the curb, load the grill with bratwurst, crack the coldest beer you’ve got, and give a toast to the game so fine that it’s played on diamonds. Let’s rip into those Opening Day gifts and see what we got!
This pick falls into one of my top MLB analysis systems: I call it the bounce back spot. Teams like Houston rarely get swept at home. Christian Javier, tonight’s Space Men starter, has owned the White Sox, dicing them last season at .118 with just two hits. Javier is a beast and started strong last season: 1.35 ERA over his first five outings in 2022.
NEW YORK YANKEES: FIVE OFFSEASON TRADES THAT MAKE SENSE –Â The New York Yankees have had a very good offseason.
They signed their super star out-fielder, Aaron Judge, to a 9 year, 360 million dollar contract and secured 1st baseman, Anthony Rizzo, to a 2 year, 40 million dollar deal.
So, the Mets paid $86 million over two years for a fragile, 40-year pitcher who has won exactly one World Series game in his entire career. To be starker: he struggled through five innings to win that one last year, making him 1-6 in World Series play with a 5.63 ERA.Â