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Welcome back, RotoBallers!
Well, we've made it to August, and (so far) we still have baseball! Here's hoping the number of positive tests begins decreasing so we can finish this season. I started out slow for the first few days, but since Steve picked back up on this series on Tuesday, I heated up quickly! Let's see if I can keep that momentum going for you on this beautiful Saturday full of MLB, NHL, NBA, and PGA action. Man it feels great to have sports back!
As you may already know, Steve Janik and I will be sharing the duties of writing up an MLB Betting article every day of the week! All season long we'll be supplying you MLB betting articles with a few of our favorite picks for the day in baseball. Along with the picks, we'll give a little write-up with some supporting evidence for the picks, and we'll keep track of our records throughout the course of the season. You can always find my updated picks for the day as well as my running tally @BellRoto on Twitter. I'll also do my best to continue posting my picks there on my "Off Days" for this series.
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- 2020 Season Total: 20-19
Without further ado, let's get to the picks for today's slate. Please make sure to follow me on Twitter @BellRoto, as I'll post any updates and/or additions to these picks there throughout the day. I'll also field any questions or comments on Twitter as well as in our Premium RotoBaller Slack Chat under the Sports Betting channel. Here we go!
Cincinnati Reds (-175) at Detroit Tigers
O/U: 9
CIN: Trevor Bauer, DET: Michael Fulmer
This pitching matchup could not be more lopsided. Trevor Bauer struck out 13 Tigers just six days ago, and barely broke a sweat doing it. He looked dominant, his pitches had life, and it helps that the Detroit lineup lacks any real threats on offense.
Then, just a day later, Michael Fulmer came out and let up three homers in 2.2 innings pitched, on top of a few more hard hit line drives for hits. He looked rusty, which is reasonable considering his return from Tommy John surgery. I don't think that issue gets solved today, and I'd be surprised to see him throw more than three innings even if he avoids the long ball.
It definitely helps the Tigers marginally that they just saw Bauer's stuff, but I don't think it really matters here. Bauer is too dominant not to back in this spot, and the Reds offense has pop all over the place. This was almost a two unit play for me, but I think I'll throw it into a (off the record) mini-parlay instead.
Pick: Reds ML (-175) 1 Unit
Colorado Rockies (-110) at Texas Rangers
O/U: 9
COL: Jon Gray, TEX: Mike Minor
German Marquez and the Rockies were flirting with a no-hitter for a while in their opener on Friday night, but an RBI double by Rougned Odor was enough to give the Rangers a 1-0 win. I expect there to be many more fireworks for the rest of the series, hopefully starting for Colorado on Saturday night.
Although it didn't look that way in their opener, the Rockies have a very deep lineup with young hitters to supplement dangerous, veteran bats. The 32-year-old Mike Minor had a respectable year in 2019, but he's not blowing anyone away with massive amounts of strikeouts these days. Balls in play for these Rockies bats should lead to good things.
Jon Gray is not as reliable as Marquez, but he's still a solid pitcher, and he can rack up strikeouts at a better clip away from Coors Field. This could end up being a 8-7 game in opposition to the 1-0 head-scratcher we saw on Friday. The "Over" on the run total might be a wise bet too!
Pick: Rockies ML (-110) 1 Unit
Atlanta Braves (-115) at New York Mets
O/U: 9
ATL: Max Fried, NYM: Steven Matz
Just like the Rockies, I'm going right back to the well with the Braves in hopes that they bounce back after a 1-0 loss on Friday. Max Fried will take the hill for Atlanta, and he looked great in the second half of 2019, allowing just eight homers in his 12 second half starts. He also sported a 10.21 K./9 during that time, which bodes well against a strikeout prone Mets lineup.
Meanwhile, we know that Steven Matz can be prone to the long ball, even when he's in the midst of a solid outing. Freddie Freeman and the gang looked healthy and the Braves lineup looked intimidating despite the lack of results in game 1 of 60. I'm hopping right back on board the Atlanta offense and trusting that this collection of talent will come through more often than not. I'm so in love with this pitching advantage that I'm willing to throw an extra unit on this one!
Remember to check me out on Twitter @Bellroto to see if I add any more picks throughout the day. Let's (FINALLY) enjoy some baseball!
Pick: Braves ML (-115) 2 Units
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