MLB Game Picks - Tuesday: June 9, 2015

I've never been fond of short schedule days. There is no margin for error and the picks can go south in a hurry. Predictably, I went 4-4 yesterday with an incorrect Pick of the Day. Chris Sale was as remarkable as I thought he would be. But I worried correctly about John Lackey, who was pounded. I enjoyed watching the draft last night except that it was drawn out to the nth degree. Wow, that was slow going!  Good luck to all those drafted.

Tuesday's picks:

• The Red Sox over the Orioles: The Red Sox have a good one in Eduardo Rodriguez and he has certainly delivered. He faces Miguel Gonzalez who only seems dominant against the Yankees and no one else in the AL East.
• The Pirates over the Brewers: This pick did not work out yesterday. And it seems a little iffy tonight too. Francisco Liriano is always an adventure and the Brewers are giving a MLB debut to Taylor Jungmann, the team's former #1 draft pick (2011). Jungmann has gotten bashed around a bit this year in the PCL, but that is a tough league for pitchers. Look for a lot of ground balls.
• The Yankees over the Nationals: The Yankees have made it a habit of spanking aces this year (while losing to stiffs) and can deliver their own ace in Masahiro Tanaka. If Tanaka can keep the ball in the stadium, I think he will out-duel Max Scherzer.
• The Blue Jays over the Marlins: I'll take Mark Buehrle at home most of the time. Besides, the Marlins have sunk like a rock since they changed managers. Dan Haren goes for the Fish.
• The Cubs over the Tigers: Anibal Sanchez just doesn't seem to be himself this season. He's usually good in the first half and then fades. He's faded since April. Jon Lester knows these Tigers well (and vice versa).
• The Rays over the Angels: The Rays just keep winning and Nate Karns has been part of that. Matt Shoemaker is capable of being tough though.
• The Reds over the Phillies: Aaron Harang might be safe enough to pick against. I will laugh if he wins though. The guy does do a number on my head. Anthony DeSclafani goes for the Reds.
• The Padres over the Braves: I hate picking against Mike Foltynewicz, especially since I finally memorized how to spell his name. But James Shields doesn't lose.  So I have to go with him.
• The Mets over the Giants: Two good young pitchers toil in this one and it could go either way. "Charlton" Chris Heston has been just fine for the Giants and Noah Syndergaard has shown flashes of brilliance.
• The Astros over the White Sox: Carlos Rodon is certainly capable of striking out fourteen more Astros tonight. But I have to go with Dallas Keuchel, one of my favorite pitchers in baseball.
• The Twins over the Royals: Trevor May has been a complete surprise to me this season as have the Twins as a whole. The Royals are tough but I am going with May over Chris Young.
• The Rockies over the Cardinals: The Rockies, thanks to the re-emergence of Troy Tulowitzki, are flat out raking right now and at home, I think they can still do the same to Michael Wacha. Jorge De La Rosa is the key to this game though.
• The Athletics over the Rangers: It's a Sonny Gray day and that is enough for me, especially when he is home. The Rangers go with Nick Martinez, who has been very good himself this season.
• The Dodgers over the Diamondbacks: Robbie Ray has pitched wonderfully since his call up and has nine strikeouts to only one walk. The Dodgers are just a different team when Yasiel Puig is on the field. Carlos Frias pitches for them.

And the Pick of the Day:

• The Indians over the Mariners: I don't care if he is just 3-6. You can't pick against Corey Kluber. I cannot say the same thing concerning Roenis Elias.

Yesterday: 4-4, June: 56-49, Season: 434-402, Picks of the Day: 34-28

MLB Game Picks - Tuesday: May 19, 2015

I was supposed to get up early for an early meeting and somehow, I did not. So I have only a few minutes to list out my picks without comments. I apologize.

• Pirates over the Twins: Francisco Liriano vs. Ricky Nolasco
• Yankees over the Nationals: Nate Eovaldi vs. Gio Gonzalez
• Orioles over the Mariners: Miguel Gonzalez vs. Taijuan Walker
• Blue Jays over the Angels: Aaron Sanchez vs. Hector Santiago
• Marlins over the Diamondbacks: Tom Koehler vs. Jeremy Hellickson
• Cardinals over the Mets: Michael Wacha vs. Jon Niese
• Braves over the Rays: Mike Foltynewicz vs. Erasmo Ramirez
• Rangers over the Red Sox; Yovani Gallardo vs Wade Miley
• Reds over the Royals: Johnny Cueto vs. Yordano Ventura
• The White Sox over the Indians: Jose Quintana vs. Trevor Bauer
• Athletics over the Astros: Sonny Gray vs. Roberto Hernandez
• Phillies over the Rockies: Aaron Harang vs. Chad Bettis
• Padres over the Cubs: James Shields vs. Jason Hammel
• Dodgers over the Giants: Carlos Frias vs. Tim Hudson

And the Pick of the Day:

• Tigers over the Brewers: Anibal Sanchez vs. Jimmy Nelson

Yesterday: 4-3, May: 121-96, Season: 285-261, Picks of the Day: 23-18

MLB Game Picks - Sunday: May 3, 2015

Saturday was a 9-6 day but the Pick of the Day was wrong as the Cubs finally lost. My luck has turned on extra-inning games as the last three have gone my way.  Who knew that picking the Twins would be so fortuitous. Who knew the Astros were going to be this good?

I did have one incredible coincidence of bad luck yesterday and it cost me two picks. On the same day, the last out was recorded giving the Giants and the Dodgers wins because a batted ball hit a base runner. Both would have been base hits and both would have at least tied the games. How's that for incredible? 

Sunday's picks:

• The Marlins over the Phillies: The Marlins complete the sweep of the hapless Phils as Jarred Cosart finishes them off. Severino Gonzalez got rocked in his first start. What will happen today?
• The Indians over the Blue Jays: Trevor Bauer and Drew Hutchison have the exact same 2-0 record. The difference is that Bauer has had four starts and all were quality starts. Hutchison? Not so much.
• The Nationals over the Mets: I really shouldn't base so much on the starting pitchers. But I tend to. In this case, I like Doug Fister much more than the current iteration of Dillon Gee.
• The Reds over the Braves: Johnny Cueto versus Julio Teheran can be a pretty good match-up. That said, the Reds will score lots of runs and win this one.
• The Orioles over the Bay Rays: I bet the Orioles wish they still had Nelson Cruz. Holy cow, that guy is amazing. But anyway, the O's still have some punch and should take care of Nathan Karns. Then, all they need is for Wei-Yin Chen to pitch well.
• The Twins over the White Sox: I have picked against Mike Pelfrey all the time this early season and he is making me look stupid (not that it is difficult). So I will pick him today and probably still look stupid. John Danks goes for the White Sox.
• The Tigers over the Royals: The rubber game of the series features Anibal Sanchez against Jeremy Guthrie. Sanchez has made some adjustments and is pitching much better. Jeremy Guthrie should leaver a hanger or two about to cost the game.
• The Astros over the Mariners: I might as well stick with the very hot Astros. I wasn't going to because Roberto Hernandez is pitching. But he hasn't been half bad this season. J.A. Happ goes for the M's and has pitched well himself.
• The Cardinals over the Pirates: The Cardinals will complete the sweep. But it will considerably easier today as they should win easily behind Michael Wacha going against Vance Worley. It scares me whenever I perceive a mismatch, however.
• The Cubs over the Brewers: The last time I sang Jimmy Nelson's praises, he gave up thirteen base runners in 2.1 innings. Yeesh. Perhaps Nelson will get back on track today. But I'm still going with the Cubs behind Jason Hammels.
• The Athletics over the Rangers: The Rangers are playing better and Yovani Gallardo has been pretty good for them. But Sonny Gray is my guy. Whenever he pitches, it is a Sonny Gray Day.
• The Giants over the Angels: The better days are behind both Tim Lincecum and Jered Weaver. But Lincecum still has somewhat of a big league fastball. Weaver couldn't out-gun Jamie Moyer at this point.
• The Diamondbacks over the Dodgers: I do believe this is the second battle of the Andersons this season. Chase Anderson is the better one and Brett Anderson is not. So that is the pick.
• The Red Sox over the Yankees: The Red Sox will salvage the last game of this series as Joe Kelly is a better pitcher than Adam Warren. At least when considering how each will do against his opponent team. Kelly reminds me a lot of Eovaldi.

And the Pick of the Day is:

• The Padres over the Rockies: Kyle Kendrick has made a career of making me look foolish. Whenever I pick against him, he mocks me. But heck, I still think James Shields and the Padres will prevail today.

Yesterday: 9-6, May: 17-13, Season: 181-178, Picks of the Day: 14-13

MLB Game Picks - Saturday: April 11, 2015

Another day. Another unsuccessful day as the picks slipped below .500 again. What a terrible time I'm having here. I was 6-2 at one point yesterday and it all went downhill from there.  I am very happy for Brandon Morrow who pitched very well.  That was fun.

Since I am not having any fun, I'll get right to the picks for Saturday:

• The Red Sox over the Yankees: I don't believe in Adam Warren as a starter. I think the Red Sox will kill him and then who will be left to relieve? I'm not sure how ready Joe Kelly is either. But the Red Sox at least have an offense.
• The Reds over the Cardinals: Michael Wacha will probably pitch pretty well. But Johnny Cueto will pitch even better. Think how good Cueto must be to pitch as well as he does with half his games in that bandbox.
• The Twins over the White Sox: I really wonder about how well Jeff Samardzija is. I cannot remember the last time he pitched a good game. Mike Pelfrey is even riskier, but gee, the White Sox are digging a hole so far.
• The Athletics over the Mariners: I love me some Sonny Gray. He is my super good luck charm. J.A. Happ somehow keeps his career going, year after year.
• The Tigers over the Indians: Super great match-up between David Price and Corey Kluber. When both pitchers cancel each other out, go with the better team. The Tigers are the better team...again...so far...
• The Marlins over the Bay Rays: The battle for Florida continues and I have to go with the Marlins again. At home and with the better team, the only question is Jarred Cosart. Chris Archer seems to have lost a bit of his mojo.
• The Blue Jay over the Orioles: Ubaldo Jimenez could get beat up pretty good in this one. The Blue Jays' offense is killer. A lot will depend on Aaron Sanchez, a big-time arm who is very young.
• The Nationals over the Phillies: The Nationals have had a lackluster start. Good old Doug Fister to the rescue. Cole Hamels was not good his first time out. But that should be an anomaly and not the norm.
• The Braves over the Mets: Here we were wondering how bad the Braves were going to be and they came out this season gangbusters. Julio Teheran is very good and Dillon Gee has been in and out of good health. The Braves roll.
• The Pirates over the Brewers: Will the Brewers win a game this season? I'm not so sure. They sure look awful. But the law of averages starts to weigh heavy and they have to win sooner or later. With Jimmy Nelson on the mound, it probably won't be today. Vance Worley goes for the Pirates.
• The Rangers over the Astros: Yovani Gallardo did not have a good start his first time out. But I still like him better than Roberto Hernandez. The Rangers are at home. Seriously, this game could go either way.
• The Rockies over the Cubs: The Rockies are on fire and the last time I picked against Kyle Kendrick, I paid for it. Jason Hammel is pretty reliable, but things aren't going well for the Cubs so far. Of course, everything could blow up in Coors.
• The Padres over the Giants: James Shields makes his second National League start and I think he will pitch well today against the Giants. Madison Bumgarner is a tough cookie though. I'm still going with the Padres.
• The Royals over the Angels: Jeremy Guthrie and Jered Weaver will have a slow ball contest. Can you say, "wily?"  The Royals are flying high, so that's the pick.

And the Pick of the Day

• The Dodgers over the Diamondbacks: Archie Bradley makes his MLB debut today for the D-Backs. He was a number one pick and was born in the 1990s. From what I see, he has command issues. Clayton Kershaw should bounce back nicely from his opening start and win this one.

Yesterday: 7-8, Season: 26-35, Picks of the Day: 1-4

MLB Game Picks - Sunday: October 26, 2014

I was wrong again and I was right again. I was wrong because I did not factor in Yusmeiro Petit and his ability to rescue San Francisco's starter. I was right because I knew the starting pitchers in this game would not pitch well.  They did not. I was wrong because the Royals over-relied on a kid who was pitching for a college team just two months ago and gave him such a large responsibility when he is nothing but a babe and should be at the Arizona Fall League and not the World Series.

I was right that if the Giants had a lead before the sixth or seventh inning, that would spell trouble for the Royals. But I was wrong in my final pick. Oh well.

The good news is that we are getting a nice and long seesaw battle between two evenly matched and flawed teams in this World Series. Let's face it, nobody really wants to see the season end yet. Tonight features the Giants' last home game of the season in a Series knotted at two games each. And we are back to the Game One starters.

The Picks:

• The Giants over the Royals: Anyone who would pick against Madison Bumgarner in this post season is either the most courageous of souls or knows something I don't know. MadBum has been sterling in every start this post season. I am a bit nervous that he does his best work on the road and not at his home park, but still. He is the best pitcher in this post season and I cannot pick against him. James Shields has never put the fear into me to pick against. Yes, he is a smart and talented pitcher. But I would never call him an ace. Am I the only one who thinks Danny Duffy should have been in the Royals' rotation this post season?

Yesterday: 0-1, Post season: 13-16, Season: 1378-1106

MLB Game Picks - Tuesday: October 21, 2014

Hey! Remember baseball? They play it again tonight after what seems like forever. And not only is it baseball, it is one of the most unlikely World Series encounters in memory. Two teams that started out as wild card teams battle it out for the title. It's the San Francisco Giants at the Kansas City Royals for Game One.

As my 11-14 record indicates for the post season, this has been a wacky ride to get to this point. Home field advantage has meant nothing. Will it matter what happened at the All Star Game back in July? The way the rest of this post season has played, I doubt it. That might mess the Royals up since they won't be the underdogs here.

My initial call is the Giants in six. They will complete their every other year trifecta.  But let's take it a game at a time starting tonight:

The Pick:

The Giants over the Royals: As mentioned, home field advantage has meant nothing in this post season. I think only one opening game of a series thus far was won by the home team. Madison Bumgarner has been amazing. James Shields has been pretty darned good himself. But if you go by talent alone, you have to go with Bumgarner. The Royals revolve around running the bases and playing small ball. But you have to get on base in order for that to happen. A key match-up will be MadBum against Billy Butler. It will be interesting.

The last time we played: 1-0, Post Season: 11-14, Season: 1376-1104

MLB Game Picks - Friday: October 10, 2014

Good job, Bud Selig and you all-powerful television entities, baseball is finally back after four days. Such a hiatus should help ratings giving casual fans just about anything else to wrap their minds around with the attention spans of a four-month-old puppy. You see, if Major League Baseball wasn't a slave to the television contracts, the Championship Series could have been started a day or two after the Division Series ended. But we can't have that and mess up those TV time blocks now could we?

I suppose I should get to the game at hand. Yes, game, singular. We can't even start with two games. We have to space them out for maximum ratings. But all cynicism aside, this is going to be a fun ALCS with two teams we haven't seen come this far in a long while. I even had a dream about this one. Yes, I had a dream...

The pick:

• The Orioles over the Royals: I dreamed I was high on a mountain-top, naked to the world...wait...that's the wrong dream. I dreamed the Royals built a fairly sizable lead early off of Chris Tillman and all my Royals Twitter buds were whooping but were silenced in the end by a big Orioles comeback who catch up to James Shields in the sixth inning and take over the game. There were orange towels being waved all over Camden Yards and I wished I could give @grogg a hug. Hey, that's what I saw. So that's what I'm picking.

Last time we met: 1-1, Post Season: 6-10, Season: 1371-1100