Wednesday, May 28, 2014

MLB Game Picks - Wednesday: May 28, 2014

I should be happy. I reversed a 5-10 day on Monday to go 10-4 on Tuesday. But that darned Game of the Day feature is driving me crazy. For a reminder, the Game of the Day is the pick that seems the easiest of the day or the one I feel the most confident about. Last year, that feature was correct 60% of the time and was 35 correct picks over .500. That still wasn't great for being that confident a pick, but this year, the feature is simply terrible.

Take yesterday for example. I had Yu Darvish and the Texas Rangers. Reasonable, right? But what is announced around six o'clock in the evening? Darvish has a sore neck and might be going on the disabled list. Poof goes the pick, the Twins win and the stupid feature is back to three games under water. Grrr.

Wednesday's picks:
  • The Pirates over the Mets: I don't like this pick because Charlie Morton is pitching for the Pirates. But he is doing so in a good pitchers park at Citi Field. Plus, a fastball pitcher like Bartolo Colon pitching to fastball happy Pittsburgh doesn't seem favorable.
  • The Royals over the Astros: The Royals need a kick in the pants and they won't get it from the manager they have now. But they should still win behind Danny Duffy over Jarred Cosart.
  • The Giants over the Cubs: Tim Lincecum has been pitching fairly well and the Giants are rolling. They should roll over the Cubs and Edwin Jackson.
  • The Rockies over the Phillies: A lot of attention has been placed on the Rockies and the team's non-Coors offense and rightly so. But the Phillies are no great shakes on offense home or away. And Jordan Lyles is pitching really well. Look for the Rockies' road offense to get a boost off of Roberto Hernandez.
  • The Nationals over the Marlins: This is the same pitching line that was supposed to happen yesterday but couldn't because of the rain. And I still think Blake Treinen comes out better than Henderson Alvarez.
  • The Bay Rays over the Blue Jays: The battle of the ays continues and I think the Blue Jays finally lose a game here. Yes, Liam Hendriks won his first start. But he is still Liam Hendriks. Chris Archer has had some command issues, but he hasn't given up an earned run in his last two starts.
  • The Red Sox over the Braves: Talk about any meme you want. The Red Sox have woken up. They will pounce on Gavin Floyd and John Lackey will win a game at Fenway most of the time.
  • The Brewers over the Orioles: Yovani Gallardo had the pinch hit game winner on Tuesday night, so I have to pick him to win today, right? He is good at home anyway and Bud Norris is not a guy I ever have confidence in.
  • The White Sox over the Indians: The Indians are banged up. There is no Nick Swisher or Carlos Santana. My only problem here is the pitching match-up which is like picking the worst of two negatives. Hector Noesi versus T.J. House. Yikes!
  • The Twins over the Rangers: Maybe this is one too many incarnations for Joe Saunders. Maybe he'll make me look like a chump and pitch a good game. Maybe it won't matter because Kyle Gibson is pretty good, especially at home.
  • The Cardinals over the Yankees: The Yankees look really tired. Mark Teixeira's bat is missed in the lineup. They struggle over power arms like Shelby Miller and Hiroki Kuroda has no stamina left. This has Cardinal win all over it.
  • The Padres over the Diamondbacks: Chase Anderson has been fairly productive so far for the D-backs. But I have always liked Tim Stauffer and it looks like the latter is back to where he needs to be. I have to go that way.
  • The Athletics over the Tigers: The two teams have split the series so far. And a lefty like Scott Kazmir doesn't have the match-up advantage over the Tigers' lineup like he has other times. But I still like the A's here over Anibal Sanchez.
  • The Mariners over the Angels: This is a great pitching match-up with Felix Hernandez going against C.J. Wilson. On the one hand, I like lefties against the Mariners. But it's just too hard to pick against King Felix.
And the Game of the Day:
  • The Dodgers over the Reds: Anytime you have Clayton Kershaw on the mound, you have to give the Dodgers the nod. Make it a home game and even more so. Homer Bailey could have a great game and spoil the party, but I still think the Dodgers win.
Yesterday: 10-4, May: 197-174, Games of the Day: 25-28, Season: 430-346

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