MLB Game Picks - Saturday: June 6, 2015

How can you start a night at 5-0 and end up and 7-8? Somehow, that's how my picking day went. How disheartening! But nothing is more disheartening than hearing about that woman in Boston that got injured with a piece of shattered bat last night. How awful and she was sitting there with her husband and son. Gosh, that is bigger than anything else that happened and more important. Let's all pray that she will recover from this injury!

Saturday's picks:

• The Nationals over the Phillies: The Nats are starting a rookie named Joe Ross and he is making his MLB debut. His MiLB numbers look good, so I am going with him. He was born in 1993. Gosh. Jason Hammel goes for the Phillies.
• The Blue Jays over the Astros: Is this where the Astros come back to earth? We've all been waiting for it while hoping the Cinderella story continues. I think Drew Hutchison makes a better pick than Brett Oberholtzer.
• The Twins over the Brewers: J.R. Graham has been a cracker (sorry, I had to) in long relief for the Twins, so it's not stretch for him to start a game. He throws strikes, therefore, I like him. Matt Garza will never be in my good graces after his quote about pitching for the Cubs.
• The Royals over the Rangers: MLB.com does not list pitchers for this game, but Yahoo says it will be Yordano Ventura versus Wandy Rodriguez. If that is indeed the pitching line, I have to go with the Royals.
• The Red Sox over the Athletics: I think Joe Kelly will put it together this game. And the Red Sox score often against Jesse Chavez. That's my pick and I'm sticking to it.
• The Indians over the Orioles: Matt Wieters came back in a good way, eh? And Adam Jones broke out of his slump last night. Normally, that would be good enough for me. But Danny Salazar is a special talent who can, on any given night, shut down anyone. Ubaldo Jimenez goes for the O's.
• The Rockies over the Marlins: This pick did not work out too well last night. But I'll try again. Chris Rusin has been very good in his two appearances. But both of those were away. How will he do at home in Coors? I assume it will be better than David Phelps.
• The Reds over the Padres: Another pick that was way wrong last night. But what the heck. Michael Lorenzen over Andrew Cashner.
• The Pirates over the Braves: I like that Jeff Locke is a lefty against Atlanta and I don't like the mess that is the Braves' bullpen. Unless Julio Teheran can go a complete game, I go with the hot Pirates.
• The Tigers over the White Sox: The Tigers are in a real funk right now. But David Price should help that and should shut down the White Sox. Meanwhile, the Tigers' sluggish offense should get to John Danks.
• The Yankees over the Angels: All the odds here seem to be stacked against a Yankee win. Adam Warren does not strike fear into any heart and Garrett Richards is a stud. But the Yankees have beaten studs all season.
• The Mets over the Diamondbacks: Chase Anderson is pretty good for the Diamondbacks, but there is some kind of charm in watching Bartolo Colon pitch (and bat). So I'm going with Shrek here.
• The Dodgers over the Cardinals: The Cardinals hardly ever lose. But perhaps today against Clayton Kershaw, that might change. Jaime Garcia has been surprisingly effective thus far.
• The Mariners over the Rays: Felix Hernandez got off track when his home mound got muddy against the Yankees. But he should be back to his old self tonight against the Rays. Alex Colome has been up and down.

And the Pick of the Day:

• The Giants over the Phillies: I cannot pick against Madison Bumgarner. It's just not in me to do so. Severino Gonzalez is good and can only hope to keep up.

Yesterday: 7-8, June: 35-32, Season: 413-385, Picks of the Day: 32-27

MLB Game Picks - Tuesday: May 26, 2015

Memorial Day saw the picks just climb over .500 for the day. There were a number of good picks but just as many surprises that evened out whatever success I had. The Yankees and Mets both broke out of long slumps. One was good for the picks and one was bad.  It was a fun day of baseball.

Tuesday's picks:

• The Orioles over the Astros: I'm still not a Scott Feldman fan and Chris Tillman is starting to get his act back together. I don't think the Orioles are done by any stretch of the imagination.
• The Yankees over the Royals: No, I'm not sold on Adam Warren. But I've never been really sold on Jason Vargas either. I think the Yankees hit big again this game.
• The Pirates over the Marlins: Who and what is Jose Urena!? It sounds like an internal organ. He has three MLB innings thus far and no strikeouts. Color me skeptical. I'll go with Jeff Locke.
• The Cubs over the Nationals: The Nats are due for a loss as it has been a while. And Jordan Zimmermann has been a bit shaky. Kyle Hendricks, however, is pitching real well for the Cubs.
• The Blue Jays over the White Sox: R.A. Dickey has his best knucklers at home because of the controlled environment. John Danks always seems to cough up runs.
• The Reds over the Rockies: The Reds have to win some time and it might as well be today. Michael Lorenzen should be in the rotation full time. Jorge De La Rosa is a pretty good pitcher for the Rockies though.
• The Mets over the Phillies: I haven't been able to pick a visiting team yet and I'm getting the willies. But Jacob deGrom should be better than Jerome Williams.
• The Bay Rays over the Mariners: Okay, here is a visiting team pick. Phew! Alex Colome recovered nicely in his last start and I'll never, ever be a J.A. Happ fan, even if he wins ten in a row.
• The Indians over the Rangers: As good as the Rangers are hitting right now, I think they can be stopped by Danny Salazar. He has been that good. Add that to the fact that Wandy Rodriguez isn't what he used to be and I think you have an Indians win.
• The Red Sox over the Twins: The Red Sox will hit Mike Pelfrey. So it all depends on which Clay Buchholz shows up. I think the good one will show up in a big ballpark.
• The Diamondbacks over the Cardinals: If Jaime Garcia is going to win, it will be at home. But I don't know if he has it in him. Frankly, I think the Cards are fed up with him. I'll go with Archie Bradley instead.
• The Tigers over the Athletics: The A's don't hit lefties. David Price is only lefty, but he is one of the best. Jesse Chavez is not going to keep up. Now I'm going with too many visiting teams!
• The Angels over the Padres: Albert Pujols was not amused as he picked up his game-winning single. Take that, Padres! Matt Shoemaker should be better than Odrisamer Despaigne, a name I can now type without looking!
• The Dodgers over the Braves: Clayton Kershaw is always getting the best of the other team's rotation and that happens again today as he squares up with Julio Teheran. This should be a low scoring game.

And the Pick of the Day:

• The Giants over the Brewers: Madison Bumgarner is one of the best, if not the best this year. He will need to keep Ryan Braun and company inside the park, but he should be able to do that. Matt Garza goes for the Brewers.

Yesterday: 8-7, May: 170-150, Season: 334-315, Picks of the Day: 27-21

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 - Friday: May 8, 2015

Sheesh! Another negative night and it took a real bad blown save by Huston Street to keep it from being worse. Of course, his meltdown hurt my fantasy team. That's four par or subpar days in a row now and I need to get on track!

Friday's picks:

• The Nationals over the Braves: Gio Gonzalez sort of confuses me. He is not as good as he was before the suspension, but not as bad as I keep thinking he is. I think he does well against the Braves and the Nats hit Eric Stults.
• The Yankees over the Orioles: Adam Warren will have to have a good night to have this pick hold out, especially since the Yankees can never seem to hit Miguel Gonzalez, which is really weird since he's not a world beater. Caution as this is a wishful thinking pick.
• The Cardinals over the Pirates: I am a huge Michael Wacha fan and so this pick is for him. Francisco Liriano is a hit or miss kind of guy and I never seem to hit it correctly. This pick was certainly wrong yesterday.
• The Blue Jays over the Red Sox: This is an interesting game. The Red Sox fired their pitching coach and we will have to see how that works out. Both Wade Miley and Aaron Sanchez have struggled, so I can only see through this glass darkly.
• The Tigers over the Royals: David Price has only had the one bad start. Otherwise he has been brilliant. Yordano Venture will try not to stir up any trouble tonight.
• The Indians over the Twins: Neither Mike Pelfrey nor Trevor Bauer have lost a game this year. That's sort of weird, but it is still early. I have no idea what to make of the Indians. I'll pick them at home, but the Twins sure have been playing well.
• The Rays over the Rangers: I have to check on the Rangers. I don't even know who plays for them anymore besides third base and shortstop. The Rays' lineup is kind of bad, but I have a feeling Nathan Karns will have a good night and better Yovani Gallardo.
• The Cubs over the Brewers: Jimmy Nelson has had a couple of real clunkers for outings lately and the Brewers are still offensively challenged. I'm going with the Cubs who start Jason Hammel tonight.
• The Reds over the White Sox: The White Sox rarely win a game that Hector Noesi starts, so I can't go there. Jason Marquis just keeps rolling along. The Reds get an extra bat with the DH.
• The Dodgers over the Rockies: I don't expect Brett Anderson to pitch as well as he did his last time out, especially at Coors. But I think the Dodgers' offense will explode again tonight starting with a short outing by Eddie Butler.
• The Diamondbacks over the Padres: Okay. The Diamondbacks have been picked against for three straight games and have made me look stupid each time. So I give in and pick them to win even with  the mediocre Jeremy Hellickson on the mound. James Shields be darned.
• The Astros over the Angels: Jered Weaver is averaging 83 MPH on his fastball this season. His arm must be Swiss cheese and he is 0-4. Not that I am a big fan of Roberto Hernandez, but let's go thatway in this one.
• The Mariners over the Athletics: I always pick Sonny Gray, but not tonight. He is simply due to lose. A lot will depend on if Tiajuan Walker is over his early season funk and pitches like he is capable.
• The Giants over the Marlins: The Fish are a long, long way from home and Tim Lincecum has turned back the clock and looks terrific. Jarred Cosart will try to prove me wrong. He is a fiery guy.

And the Pick of the Day:

• The Mets over the Phillies: I cannot in good conscience ever pick against Matt Harvey even if he is facing Cole Hamels. Even if the two pitchers cancel each other out, the Mets win late.

Yesterday: 5-6, May: 51-45, Season: 215-210, Picks of the Day: 18-14

MLB Game Picks - Saturday: May 2, 2015

It is a gorgeous May day here and I overslept. Oops. My picks were kind of sleepy too yesterday. It was a struggle up and down all day and I finally finished one game above the even mark, Hardly impressive. The day is calling me, so let's dive right into Saturday.

The picks:

• The Yankees over the Red Sox: Everyone in Red Sox Nation is hating on Wade Miley these days. That's not a good thing to face at home for the pitcher. Nathan Eovaldi, despite my high expectations, hasn't exactly been great either. I'll either be way right on this one or laughably wrong.
• The Twins over the White Sox: I'll be honest. I have no idea here. Who would you choose of either Hector Noesi or Ricky Nolasco. I don't want to pick either. I'll go with the Twins at home as they are playing better right now.
• The Cardinals over the Pirates: John Lackey has pitched really well so far. Francisco Liriano has had his moments against the Cardinals. It will be another close game decided late. The Cards keep winning, but the fans don't have it easy most nights.
• The Angels over the Giants: I knew the Giants would win last night and they did. I'm not so sure about tonight with Tim Hudson showing his age. Hector Santiago is hit or miss. The bottom line is that I think the Angels will hit Hudson.
• The Marlins over the Phillies: Cole Hamels is pitching well of late. But so is Dan Haren. The Marlins are on a roll and the offense is clicking. The Phillies are piling through a long season. Marlins.
• The Indians over the Blue Jays: The Indians surprised me last night. That's why predicting baseball is like holding onto a fish. Corey Kluber hasn't won a game. He sure is due. Aaron Sanchez is getting better, but is still a starter in progress.
• The Rays over the Orioles: The weird series continues with the Rays' best pitcher, Chris Archer, on the mound. Miguel Rodriguez is decent and will keep his team in the game. But Archer is throwing some serious baseball.
• The Reds over the Braves: I try to always steer clear of any game that Eric Stults is pitching. And, for some reason, Jason Marquis wins his share of games after all these years. The Braves are playing pretty well for a team that was supposed to be terrible though.
• The Tigers over the Royals: There seems to be a lot of concern about David Price in recent days. But I think he'll be just fine today and will shut down a very hot Royals' offense. Edinson Volquez has been pretty good though and could keep it close.
• The Astros over the Mariners: I love me some Collin McHugh and as long as his bullpen can help him out, I like his chances today. Nelson Cruz has been amazing though and sooner or later Taijuan Walker is going to figure it out and go nuts. Tough call...
• The Mets over the Nationals: The Mets are playing with a whole bunch of swagger right now and Jon Niese has been very good. Gio Gonzalez really needs to figure it out, but I don't think it will be today.
• The Rangers over the Athletics: Nick Martinez has given up one earned run this year. One. I keep waiting for the dam to burst. But it hasn't thus far. He is old school, pitch-to-contact kind of guy and he's getting it done. I'm still waiting for the other shoe to drop though. Drew Pomeranz goes for the A's.
• The Padres over the Rockies: I am rooting so hard for Brandon Morrow. I've just latched onto the guy as a feel-good story. So this pick is biased to say the least. Jorge De La Rosa was a good pitcher last year but hasn't gotten it going thus far this year..
• The Diamondbacks over the Dodgers: This pick is probably stupid. I just don't think Scott Baker is the answer for the Dodgers. On the other hand, Jeremy Hellickson hasn't been anything to write home about either. His WHIP so far is 1.75. Ugh. It's an Ugh game.

And the Pick of the Day:

• The Cubs over the Brewers: Jake Arrieta is a pretty well-kept secret. The guy is really good. Mike Fiers was really good last year, but has come up empty this season. It doesn't help that the Brewers can't hit.

Yesterday: 8-7, May: 8-7, Season: 172-172, Picks of the Day: 14-12