MLB Game Picks - Monday: June 1, 2015

The month of May ended with a slight whimper as the final day produced a boring 8-7 result. The AL East continues to be as mediocre as my picking, the Nationals got swept. A way-three-dimensional, forty-two year old pitcher won his eighth game. Josh Hamilton had a good thing happen to him. And the Twins continue to win. It's a crazy game.

A new month is a fresh slate. Monday's picks:

• The Nationals over the Blue Jays: It happens a lot that a good team getting swept usually means trouble for the next opponent. Since  the Blue Jays are already struggling, that doesn't bode well for them. Jordan Zimmermann is coming off of three straight good starts and R.A. Dickey is always an adventure.
•  The Cubs over the Marlins: I really miss Jose Fernandez. I hope he comes back soon and at a semblance of his old self. I bet the Marlins do too when they have to shuttle guys like Jose Urena out there instead. Jason Hammel goes for the Cubs.
• The Red Sox over the Twins: Lost in all this losing by his team, Clay Buchholz has quietly gotten better and that should continue tonight. Mike Pelfrey was supposedly squeezed out of the rotation during Spring Training and now looks like one of their best pitchers.
• The Orioles over the Astros: The one thing you know here is that Brett Oberholtzer is going to give up a lot of hits. How many of those base runners score will make the difference in the outcome. Ubaldo Jimenez goes for the O's.
• The Cardinals over the Brewers: The last time I picked against Jaime Garcia, he won. But I'm still not a believer. But I do believe in his team and they just keep winning. Mike Fiers goes for the Brewers who have to be dragging today.
• The Dodgers over the Rockies: I hate when Clayton Kershaw has to pitch in Coors Field. Anything can happen there. But then again, Kyle Kendrick isn't having any fun there either.
• The Diamondbacks over the Braves: The Braves had a whooshing comeback yesterday against the Giants, which was impressive. I'm going with the D-backs though because I like Archie Bradley a lot. Alex Wood is decent though.
• The Angels over the Rays: The Rays are playing well and Alex Colome has been good for the five innings he can pitch. The answer for me is Garrett Richards who is as overpowering as a pitcher can be.
• The Mets over the Padres: Jacob deGrom has been fairly consistent if you throw out his start against the Yankees. He'll also benefit from a big ballpark. Andrew Cashner finally won a game and can be overpowering. So we'll see.
• The Mariners over the Yankees: A very interesting game as Michael Pineda returns to his original home in Seattle. Too bad he has to go up against Felix Hernandez, who has been unbeatable. The Yankees can't seem to win on the road. Edge: King Felix.

And the Pick of the Day:

• The Pirates over the Giants: The Giants have lost two in a row. Whut!? Ryan Vogelsong is 4-2 despite (or in spite) of me picking against him every time. He just seems like a rally waiting to happen. On the other hand, good things happen for the Pirates when Gerrit Cole pitches.

Yesterday: 8-7, May final: 211-188, Season: 378-353, Picks of the Day: (29-25)

MLB Game Picks - Thursday: May 21, 2015

Doggonit! Another sub-.500 day! And the Pick of the Day was wrong again. Geez, Louise! I should have picked the Giants as the pick of the day since they ALWAYS beat the Dodgers.  At least I got that pick right. And look at Houston go! How fun!

Happy birthday to my son, Bill. I can't believe you are 36!

Thursday's picks:

• The Diamondbacks over the Marlins: First of all, that was a dumb managerial choice by the Marlins. Secondly, will Mat Latos really pitch since his shin is so bruised up? Thirdly, I like Archie Bradley.
• The Orioles over the Mariners: This pick didn't work out yesterday, but I'm nothing if not stubborn. J.A. Happ never thrills me. But Chris Tillman isn't pitching that well either. The Orioles really miss that big slugger playing in the other dugout.
• The Tigers over the Astros: David Price is just too good not to pick and even though the Astros are winning every day, they have to lose some time. Scott Feldman goes for the Astros.
• The Cardinals over the Mets: Jaime Garcia is pitching? How novel. They might get a few decent starts from him and I like lefties against the Mets. Jacob deGrom has been inconsistent.
• The Rockies over the Phillies: The Rockies have been terrible. Just terrible. And the Phillies are playing well. But I'm still going with Jorge De La Rosa against Jerome Williams.
• The Giants over the Dodgers: And so Madison Bumgarner and Clayton Kershaw go at it again. Why do teams match their aces like that? You know the Giants are going to win. You just know it.
• The Angels over the Blue Jays: I've been saying it for a long, long time. The Blue Jays hired the wrong manager. They need to fix that. Matt Shoemaker over R.A. Dickey.
• The Athletics over the Rays: The fall of the Athletics has been stunning. They are really bad this year. The Rays aren't playing much better this week. I'm not big on Jesse Chavez or Alex Colome. It's a toss up.
• The Rangers over the Red Sox: The Red Sox are not hitting left-handed pitchers. And though Wandy Rodriguez is left-handed, it's not like he's great or anything. Clay Buchholz was very good his last time out. We'll see what that means.
• The Indians over the White Sox: The Indians are a really strange team and it is hard to figure them out. I like Danny Salazar though and I'm going with him over John Danks who, after all, is John Danks.
• The Cubs over the Padres: Odrisamer Despaigne has been really creamed in his last three appearances. I mean, he has been hammered! Watch him pitch great today. Heh. But I'm going with another bad appearance and a win by the Cubs behind Kyle Hendricks.

And the Pick of the Day:

• The Braves over the Brewers: The Brewers have been playing well, but so have the Braves. So it will be an interesting series. I'm liking Julio Teheran over Matt Garza in this one.

Yesterday: 7-8, May: 131-116, Season: 295-281, Picks of the Day: 23-20

MLB Game Picks - Saturday: May 16, 2015

The picks struggled to finish a game above .500 yesterday, but I'm okay with that. They were way down after the Yankees got trounced and I think it was like 2-6 at that point. Bartolo Colon had his clunker. I should have gone with the Orioles. But the day finished with a flourish of correct picks to go 6-1 for the late games to save the day. I had a big day in my fantasy league too.

Saturday's picks:

• The Marlins over the Braves: Yeah, I know. This pick did not work out yesterday. But I like it today despite Mat Latos starting. Alex Wood goes for the Braves.
• The Twins over the Rays: Trevor May has surprised me. Heck, the Twins period have surprised me. I'm going with them again today as Alex Colome is coming off a bad start against the Yankees.
• The Tigers over the Cardinals: I got this one right yesterday and I think the Tigers will score another ten runs (for the third straight day) against Tyler Lyons and company. Besides, David Price is pitching today.
• The Cubs over the Pirates: I hate to pick against Gerrit Cole right now. But the Cubs have been hot and Jon Lester is coming on to be what they expected.
• The Diamondbacks over the Phillies: The Phillies are winning too many games lately. That has to end. Jerome Williams is as good a pick at making that happen as anyone. And Archie Bradley looks really good at times.
• The Orioles over the Angels: Ubaldo Jimenez has resurrected himself and I like his chances at home. The Angels go with Matt Shoemaker who hasn't gelled into last year's form yet.
• The Brewers over the Mets: The Brewers have gotten hot since the managerial change (maybe sometimes it works) and the Mets have skidded a bit. Jacob deGrom has been spotty and (heaven help me) I'm going with Matt Garza.
• The Yankees over the Royals: This is probably the Yanks' best chance this series with Danny Duffy pitching. CC Sabathia will need a good BABIP day though.
• The Reds over the Giants: Assuming there will be no more fires today except in the Reds' bats against Ryan Vogelsong, the Reds should win this one behind Mike Leake.
• The Astros over the Blue Jays: The key question in today's match-up is which pitcher, Marco Estrada or Scott Feldman will give up more homers than the other. I'm thinking Feldman will give up less.
• The Indians over the Rangers: If Danny Salazar pitches like he is capable, the Indians should win. If not, woo boy, this pick is going to be embarrassing. Colby Lewis goes for the Rangers.
• The Nationals over the Padres: The Nats are mashing right now and Max Scherzer is pitching. I suppose Andrew Cashner could put his impressive stuff together for a start, but I'm not going to pick that way.
• The Mariners over the Red Sox: Will Felix Hernandez continue is really impressive pitching? Probably. Can Rick Porcello keep up with him and make it a bullpen game? Maybe. We'll see.
• The Dodgers over the Rockies: Zack Greinke has not lost this season and he makes a great one-two punch with Kershaw. Jorge De La Rosa has not pitched well for the Rockies.

And the Pick of the Day:

• The White Sox over the Athletics: It's hard to believe that the A's are ten games under .500 right now. Wow. One of their big problems as a team is the inability to hit left-handed pitching. They have a .544 OPS against lefties this season. John Danks is no great shakes. But he is a lefty. Jesse Chavez goes for the A's.

Yesterday: 8-7, May: 100-80, Season: 264-245, Picks of the Day: 21-17

MLB Game Picks - Wednesday: April 22, 2015

Last night was a good night as I inch closer to respectability. After a disastrous start to the picking season, I am no two games below .500 and at .500 with the Picks of the Day. What a long uphill climb.

Of the five incorrect picks, Chris Archer did indeed pitch brilliantly, but as hinted in the pick, his team can't hit. The Brewers finally scored as I predicted, but they couldn't pitch to save themselves and gave up three grand slams and sixteen runs. Wow! That's bad.

Wednesday's picks:

• The Indians over the White Sox: The Indians can throw some good pitching at you. Carrasco was great last night and Corey Kluber goes today. I don't think Jeff Samardzija will keep up.
• The Cubs over the Pirates: Man, the Pirates sure blew that game yesterday. Or, on the flip side, the Cubs sure put the medal down and made it happen. I like where the Cubs are right now. Jason Hammel over Vance Worley.
• The Phillies over the Marlins: The Marlins never do what I expect them to do. I thought they would have their way with the Phillies and they didn't last night. Today, they face Cole Hamels making it a Hammel / Hamels day. Jarred Cosart goes for the Fish.
• The Nationals over the Cardinals: The last time I picked against John Lackey, he pitched shutout ball. He won't do that twice in a row, will he? Doug Fister is terrific and thus, my pick.
• The Orioles over the Blue Jays: If Aaron Sanchez has another bad start for the Blue Jays, they will have to do some thinking of whether to keep him in the rotation. The better pick here is Ubaldo Jimenez. Now that is a scary thought.
• The Tigers over the Yankees: I think the Yankees are better against lefty starters as a team. But David Price isn't your run-of-the-mill starters. I cannot go with Adam Warren over David Price.
• The Red Sox over the Rays: The Rays are sinking and though Nathan Karns has been impressive, his mates just don't score. Joe Kelly will have a good night.
• The Reds over the Brewers: Jimmy Nelson has been one of the few bright spots for the Brewers, but he is facing Johnny Cueto and that's not good for him. That is unless the Reds are tired from all that running around the bases yesterday.
• The Royals over the Twins: The Twins had the least yesterday the whole game and then blew it at the end. That was troublesome to say the least. Jeremy Guthrie goes for the Royals tonight which gives the Twins a chance. But they can only counter with Mike Pelfrey.
• The Padres over the Rockies: The Rockies also blew it late yesterday after leading by as many as five runs. That was their best chance to win. James Shields has to tame Coors, but he has a good hitting team too. The Rockies are struggling but have the mostly solid Kyle Kendrick on the mound.
• The Diamondbacks over the Rangers: Archie Bradley has been impressive. But then again, Yovani Gallardo has been too and can hit mitigating the lost of the DH some for the Rangers. I'm still going with the D-backs.
• The Athletics over the Angels: The Angels sure pounded the A's yesterday. So much so that Ike Davis pitched. Jered Weaver has had a bad start to the season and lives on guile mostly these days. Sonny Gray is my guy here.
• The Mariners over the Astros: Ugh. I don't like any of my choices here. J.A. Happ doesn't fill me with glee and Roberto Hernandez can be awful. No, I don't like this pick at all. Blech.
• The Dodgers over the Giants: This is the must see game of the day as Clayton Kershaw goes against Madison Bumgarner. Both aces have looked a little human thus far this year and you have to wonder about the post season toll on these guys. I'm giving the edge to the Dodgers. It could go either way.

And the Pick of the Day:

• The Mets over the Braves: The Mets keep the streak alive for one more night behind Dillon Gee. While Gee has not been great, I like him better than Eric Stultz. The Mets have been Amazin'!

Yesterday: 10-5, Season: 104-106, Picks of the Day: 8-8