Welcome back, Diamond pickers. Today’s MLB landscape features plenty of games to put wagers on. What could be the game of the day, Jacob deGrom and the New York Mets playing host to Blake Snell and the San Diego Padres, won’t be on my card based on the difficulty to predict how the Mets will perform behind the “deGrominator.” Read on to find out where we are going for a fantastic Friday edition of Diamond Picks!
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Season Record: 19-8
Chicago White Sox at Detroit Tigers 7:10 EDT
The White Sox are beginning the movement of being one of, if not the top dog in all of baseball. They hold a 4.5 game lead in the AL Central and trail the San Francisco Giants by just one win for the top record in all of baseball. Friday night, they will open up a series at Detroit. The Tigers are 12 games back in the Central, neck-and-neck with the last-place Minnesota Twins.
These divisional foes have played each other seven times this season, with the Chi-Sox winning five times. Lucas Giolito will be tasked to continue the winning ways against Detroit. He struggled to start the year but has since turned things around. In his last three starts, he has secured two wins and pitched to a 2.70 ERA with a 0.95 WHIP. Current Tiger players have actually faired well off of Giolito, hitting a combined .255 with a .755 SLG. lifetime. Detroit has already defeated Giolito twice while taking him deep five times this season.
Tarik Skubal will be on the bump against the formidable White Sox attack. He is looking excellent lately, punching out 37 batters over 21 innings. The Tigers have been victorious in three out of his last four starts.
If Chicago can’t scrounge up runs versus Skubal, look for them to tack on runs against Detroit’s stable of relief pitchers. They rank 28th in ERA at 5.25 with a last-place FIP of 4.93.
Although there is plenty of warranted value with the Tigers, surprise surprise, my bet is with Giolito continuing his resurgence and the White Sox squeaking out a win.
Diamond Pick: Chicago White Sox money line -160
Los Angeles Angels at Arizona Diamondbacks 9:40 EDT
In our continuation of taking the “favorite,” we will next dissect the Angels and Diamondbacks. The D-Backs are absolutely reeling right now. They have lost seven in a row and 21 out of their last 23. Now, they will try to buck the trend against Shohei Ohtani and the Halos.
Ohtani has 60 strikeouts over 42.1 innings of work this year. The Diamondbacks, not surprisingly, rank in the bottom half of the league in strikeout percentage at 23.5 percent. Over the last 14 days, they are hitting .229 with a wRC+ of just 80.
Despite not having the face of baseball Mike Trout in the lineup, the Angels are actually playing very well, having won seven of their last 10 games heading into Thursday. They averaged nearly six runs (5.70) and allowed under four (3.60) during the span.
Merrill Kelly will try to silence the Angels’ offensive attack. He enters the game with a 5.12 ERA. Arizona is winless in his last three outings. He will have to contest against some hot bats, including outfielder Justin Upton who has four doubles and four home runs during a seven-game hitting streak. Ohtani is also swinging it lately with three hits in his last six at-bats, including a roundtriper and a double.
The only argument you can make in not siding with Los Angeles is that ‘Zona plays better on home turf (11-16 compared to 9-27 on the road). However, the difference maker here is the incredible upside Ohtani provides each time he takes the field, especially when he toes the rubber. The misery continues for Arizona, back the Halos.
Diamond Pick: Los Angeles Angels money line -145
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