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The hottest team in baseball right now is the New York Mets with a 9-1 record over their last ten games. It might be too little, too late for this team though as they are still one game under .500 and three games out of the Wild Card race. There is still time left and a lot of baseball to be played, but there are still five teams they need to leap frog to get into the Wild Card game. That said, if they did they would have one of the most dangerous pitching staffs in the National League at their disposal. They currently have a better run differential than three out of the five teams ahead of them.
While the NL is muddled, the American League Wild Card race is down to three teams. The Indians and Rays are in the driver’s seat right now with the Oakland Athletics a half game out. The Red Sox are 6.5 games back and it’s probably time for them to wave the white flag on 2019. They won the World Series last year though so I’m sure they’re fine.
MLB Betting Tips:
Chicago White Sox at Detroit Tigers: The White Sox offense has been a bit cold of late, but they look like a nice play here today. Why? Lucas Giolito is on the mound against the Tigers.
Giolito is having a huge breakout season with a 3.39 ERA/3.43 FIP. He’s got huge strikeout numbers and this Tigers offense just isn’t very good. They have a 75 wRC+ on the season which ranks right near the bottom.
The Tigers will send Spencer Turnbull to the mound here who has a 3.65 ERA/4.05 FIP/4.72 xFIP on the year. He’s been lucky and the Sox offense has power that can help those numbers regress.
Atlanta Braves at Minnesota Twins: Mike Soroka has been one of the very best pitchers in the game this season and has been really carrying the Braves pitching staff. He’s having a great year, but I really don’t like him here. He’s facing one of the top American League offenses on the road tonight and this might be the toughest match-up of his season as the Twins have a 118 wRC+ and are hitting the ball well right now.
Jake Odorizzi is a solid pitcher and he should do well at home, but the reason I like the Twins here has far more to do with the bullpen. They’ve been really solid all season and have been especially lights out over the past two weeks with just a 68 FIP-.
Philadelphia Phillies at Arizona Diamondbacks: The Diamondbacks, simply by run differential, are a far better team than the Phillies. They are +71 on the season while the Phillies are at -21. Despite that, the Phillies have been far luckier this year and are in the midst of the Wild Card race.
Today’s match-up, I think we should really see who the better overall squad is. The Phillies send Vince Velasquez to the the mound who has been very hittable with 2.26 HR/9 rate and a 4.40 ERA/5.45 FIP.
Merill Kelly goes for Arizona and his numbers at home are pretty solid. He has a 3.77 ERA/3.72 FIP in home starts this year.
