The best offense in the sport at altitude? The man who keeps giving in Miles Mikolas? A Sunday Night blowout?
Our MLB Predictions feature a bit of everything in what could be a very offensive-oriented day on the diamond.
Top MLB Predictions and Picks for Sunday, April 19
Why the Phillies Won’t Bat in the 9th Inning Against the Braves
The Phillies should win this game and should do it with relative ease. DraftKings offers a “won’t bat in the ninth inning” market that I like, but I also have no issue if you want to play this game against the spread.
Andrew Painter looks like the real deal to me. We will see if that’s the right take as the season progresses, but with a deep, five-pitch repertoire that has played well so far, what’s not to like?
He has allowed 1 bomb in the early going but is striking out more than 5 batters for every walk issued.
As much as I like him, this is as much a Grant Holmes fade as anything. In this era of three true outcomes, strikeout stuff is close to a must-have.
Holmes doesn’t.
Opponents have consistently found success when putting one of the first two pitches in play against him. This isn’t something I see going away: nothing is going to stop the opposition from being aggressive early in counts, and he lacks the quality to miss bats.
The Phillies feature an aggressive offense, and with Holmes pressured to challenge the zone, he feels like a dead man walking as Sunday’s slate comes to an end.
Betting the Over in Dodgers vs. Rockies at Coors Field
I like the over here, especially with this game at Coors Field where the ball carries and runs can pile up quickly even with a high total.
Roki Sasaki had 6 strikeouts and generated multiple whiffs in Sunday’s 5-2 home loss against the Rangers, but he struggled with his control. Sasaki allowed 2 runs on 5 hits (1 home run) and 5 walks over 4 innings against the Rangers.
His first year in the majors was disappointing, as he posted a 4.46 ERA, 1.43 WHIP and 28:22 strikeout-to-walk ratio (K/BB) across 36 1/3 regular-season innings. He’s struggling this season, too, with a 6.23 ERA, 1.85 WHIP and 15:10 strikeout-to-walk ratio (K/BB) in 13 innings over 3 starts.
Michael Lorenzen is also having a hard time out there, as he owns an 8.10 ERA, 2.22 WHIP and 13:5 strikeout-to-walk ratio (K/BB) in 16 2/3 innings over 5 appearances (4 starts).
This game points toward the over, with both Sasaki and Lorenzen not limiting baserunners and showing control issues that can lead to runs piling up on both sides.
Why the Giants Will Cover the Run Line Against the Nationals
Perhaps you want to target the Giants covering the spread. Maybe you decide to go with the over on runs scored, or perhaps target the over on runs scored by San Francisco.
But whatever you do, make sure you’re targeting the Giants to score plenty of runs against a Nationals pitching staff led by Miles Mikolas. Mikolas has been absolutely woeful this season, and the Giants offense should take advantage of that.
It only takes a few pitches to see that Mikolas hasn’t been able to deal with big-league hitters this season, but his numbers are just too bad not to make a move against them. Mikolas owns an 11.49 ERA (yes, that’s not a typo!) through 15 2/3 innings in 4 appearances (3 starts), posting an 11:9 K:BB and a woeful 2.17 WHIP while allowing over 1 earned run per inning pitched on average.
The Giants offense hasn’t been good by any means, as they’ve posted a bottom-tier collective OPS entering the weekend, but they should be able to take advantage of Mikolas’ struggles. The final score should reflect that.
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