Sports Betting

A trio of doubleheaders highlight today’s Major League Baseball slate. Add in a couple of great starting pitching matchups and you have an intriguing 9/14 MLB slate of games. No matter if you’re watching these games intently or in the background as you watch Monday Night Football, let’s pick some winners for tonight’s games!

Cardinals F3 ML +107

Have to give my guy Jason Mezrahi some credit for this one. Because of how new the 7-inning doubleheaders are, I’ve never looked deep into ways to handicap these games any differently. However, Jason brought to my attention the first three inning bets and I’ve liked this play so far. The Cardinals are throwing out Kwang-Hyun Kim on the mound who has been nothing but spectacular so far this season. Kim has not allowed an earned run in his last three starts. Now I will admit, there is a concern here because the Brewers have hit left-handed pitchers well this season. Of the starts that Kim has had, he has faced teams like the Pirates, Reds and Cubs. The Cubs are 24th in wOBA against LHP, Reds are 23rd and the Pirates are 16th. Brewers are 7th. One thing I’m counting on here is for the Brewers to start sluggish after they were no-hit last night and for the Cardinals to get after the 6.06 ERA and 1.44 WHIP Josh Lindbolm. Kim might not win the game, but with the way he has pitched, I think you can rely on him for a good clean three innings.

Braves F5 ML -132

Despite the starting rotation concerns, the Braves have been on a roll since their 29 run output against the Marlins September 9. Braves are the best team in baseball against right-handed pitching. Now this is a less than stellar pitching matchup with Touki Toussaint and Jorge Lopez, who both have ERAs over 6. Now if you don’t trust Toussaint, that’s completely fair, but this more falls on the shortcomings of the Orioles. Their last four games the Orioles have only score three runs and no more than one run in each of those games. The Braves are hot and even Kyle Wright was able to secure a victory over Max Scherzer and the Nationals yesterday. The Braves are red-hot right now and their success against RHP, first in wOBA and second in wRC+, leads me to believe they get on the board early against Lopez. If you want, the full-game ML is a good play, but it depends on if you’re willing to pay the price (-175 ML at DraftKings Sportsbook).

Thanks so much for reading my article MLB Betting: 9/14 MLB Slate. You can follow me on twitter @jjansen34 and Win Daily @WinDailySports. Check out more MLB and sports betting articles at Win Daily Sports.

For the most part, pitchers like Jacob deGrom and Max Scherzer will be priced usually well above the teams market value. That’s the case tonight as Scherzer takes the mound against one of baseball’s hottest teams. Here are a few MLB bets on DraftKings Sportsbook for tonight’s 9/2 MLB slate.

Phillies Moneyline (+108)

This may be going to the well a bit too much here, but I always tend to fade pitchers like Max Scherzer because they are usually priced way above their market value. As mentioned before, the Phillies lineup is one of the tops in baseball. While their numbers slightly decrease against right-handed pitching, they are still very good, ranking 6th in wOBA and 8th in wRC+. Even in the pitching matchup the Phillies may have the advantage as well. Zack Wheeler’s groundball percentage this season is the highest it has been since his 2014 season, at 53.8%. The Nationals have the fourth highest GB%, which sits at 45.7%. There’s a good chance Wheeler will go deep in this game, while his opponent Max Scherzer will have to deal with a relentless Phillies lineup. With the Phillies winning seven of their last eight, and leading the series against Washington this season at 4-0, getting them at plus-money is good value.

Padres Team Total Over 5.5 (-107) & Padres RL -1.5 (-127)

The Padres were the most active team at the trade deadline. Not only bolstering their starting rotation with Mike Clevinger, but adding to their lineup as well with Mitch Moreland and Austin Nola. The Padres already feast on right-handed pitching and they add a good left-handed bat in Mitch Moreland. I expect the Padres to punish Julio Teheran (9.17 ERA), who is making his way back into the starting rotation. In his last three starts, Teheran has given up four runs twice and five runs. Teheran has been getting hit hard this season with a 49% hard hit rate, which is well above the 42% league average. The Padres also have the highest had hit rate against right-handed pitching at 47.7%. This just spells disaster for Teheran and the Angels. Could possibly see the Padres team total hit the over early in this game tonight. The Padres have also won 11 of their last 14 and have one their best pitchers in Dinelson Lament on the mound. They should win and cover the RL tonight.

Thanks so much for reading my article MLB Betting: 9/2 MLB Slate. You can follow me on twitter @jjansen34 and Win Daily @WinDailySports. Check out more MLB and sports betting articles at Win Daily Sports.

Now that we are more than halfway through the Major League Baseball season, we have a fairly good idea now of what teams are contenders or pretenders. We’ll take a bit of that thinking into the 9/1 MLB slate, which also includes a trend that I’ve been on for the past week or so. Glad to join the Win Daily Sports team and for the first time let’s dive into some MLB bets on DraftKings Sportsbook!

White Sox Team Total Over 4.5 (-110)

This is been my favorite bet lately and I’m not going to stop now, especially at 4.5. Since August 16 the White Sox have scored less than five runs only twice in 14 games. That doesn’t stop tonight. First of all, Michael Pineda is making his first start this season because he was serving a suspension to start the year. Any cause for concern would be the success Pineda had last season against the White Sox, posting a 4-0 record and 2.88 ERA in four starts. However, this isn’t nearly the same lineup the White Sox were in 2019. Last season the team was 24th in wOBA and 18th in wRC+. In 2020, the White Sox are 2nd in wOBA and 2nd in wRC+ (behind the Padres in both categories). This is an elite lineup with a couple elite hitters. I have a hard time believing Pineda can shut them down in his first start of the season.

Rays ML (+128)

Rays are 7-1 against the Yankees this season. Even the dominant Gerrit Cole could not get the Yankees a win against Tampa Bay. This is an injury-plagued Yankees team and they are up against a surging Rays squad. Since August 18th the Yankees have a .202 average, which is tied for the worst in the entire league during that span, and 26th in wOBA. Concerned about Trevor Richards? Not sure you should be. In two starts against New York, he has held the them to only two runs in seven innings. Rays also tagged five runs on Masahiro Tanaka in his last start against them. This is the third time that Tanaka is going to pitch against the Rays and the Yankees lost both of those outings. Even if you are hesitant because of the pitching matchup, it’s still worth taking a shot on at plus-money.

Phillies Team Toal Over 4.5 (-107)

Phillies mash left-handed pitching and they face one tonight in Patrick Corbin. 4th in slugging, 4th in wOBA and 5th in wRC+ against left-handers this season. The Phillies have posted run totals of 10 and eight in their last two games. While the Phillies are certainly not one of the best teams in baseball, this is one of the top lineups in the league. They rank in the top five in most hitting categories. Patrick Corbin was able to hold the Phillies to two runs in six innings just five days ago. It will be very tough for him to do that again.

Thanks so much for reading my article MLB Betting: 9/1 MLB Slate. You can follow me on twitter @jjansen34 and Win Daily @WinDailySports. Check out more MLB and sports betting articles at Win Daily Sports.