MLB Game Picks - Wednesday: June 17, 2015

Yesterday looked so good. Despite being totally wrong about the Yankees / Marlins game (ahem), I finished at 10-5. But that dang Pick of the Day did me in again. I have struggled mightily with that this year, more so than any other year. And the Tigers had the lead too. They simply couldn't hold it.

Wednesday's picks:

• The Orioles over the Phillies: While I have some reservations on Ubaldo Jimenez, I have more about Kevin Correia against the Orioles lineup right now. I hope he knows how to duck.
• The Yankees over the Marlins: The Yankees are different animals at home than on the road. They are nearly a .600 team at home. My one concern is Michael Pineda. I have questions about his health right now and he hasn't looked good. Jose Urena goes for the Marlins.
• The Nationals over the Bay Rays: The series moves to Washington and they clubbed the Rays yesterday. I know. I am picking Jordan Zimmermann again. Woe is me. The Nats win behind him and against Matt Andriese.
• The Blue Jays over the Mets: The Blue Jays get their DH back and that should help. Drew Hutchison should be better than Jon Niese.
• The Braves over the Red Sox: Joe Kelly has been gruesome. He is the Red Sox' Eovaldi. Alex Wood is solid and the Red Sox lose the DH.
• The Indians over the Cubs: This game seems about even, so I ma going with the home team. It will be Shaun Marcum against Tsuyoshi Wada.
• The Reds over the Tigers: David Price has been so good. But he might be out-gunned by Johnny Cueto tonight. Todd Frazier is going bananas at the plate.
• The Brewers over the Royals: I can't see anything good coming out of a Joe Blanton start and Mike Fiers has been much better of late.
• The Pirates over the White Sox: The Pirates don't have to worry about which outfielder to start today because they have the DH. Jeff Locke should be better than John Danks, which isn't hard to do.
• The Cardinals over the Twins: The Twins' slide continues as the St. Louis Hackers...I mean Cardinals prevail with Carlos Martinez on the mound. Tommy Milone goes for the Twins. That's quite the story in St. Louis...and quite embarrassing.
• The Astros over the Rockies:  I don't know what to do with this one. The last time I picked against Brett Oberholtzer, he threw a gem. But he is pitching in Coors. At the same time, Kyle Kendrick has been dreadful at home, just dreadful.
• The Diamondbacks over the Angels: I just have a feeling the D-backs will get to Hector Santiago. Chase Anderson is usually solid.
• The Athletics over the Padres: I am pretty sure that Jesse Chavez, who has come on strong lately, will be better than Odrisamer Despaigne.
• The Mariners over the Giants: Madison Bumgarner usually comes up big against another ace. He's had the best of the duels with Kershaw, for example. But he is in the home of Felix Hernandez. One swing might determine the outcome of this game.

And the Pick of the Day:

• The Dodgers over the Rangers: Clayton Kershaw is back in beast mode and my feeling is that Yasiel Puig will have a big day against Wandy Rodriguez.

Yesterday: 10-5, June: 116-105, Season: 494-454, Picks of the Day: 37-33

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 - 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

MLB Game Picks - Tuesday: September 16, 2014

Yesterday, I got cute and picked against Stephen Strasburg and he threw a gem. Of course, the Braves offense is similarly futile as the Yankees' offense these days. Jacob deGrom was sailing along, striking a ton of people out and then the Marlins erupted. I didn't see that coming. I shouldn't have picked against the Dodgers and I should not have picked the Giants. All those decisions led to a 6-6 day. At least the Game of the Day feature is on a three-game positive streak.

Tuesday's picks:

• The Pirates over the Red Sox: Why would the Pirates, who need to win every game, pitch Charlie Morton? No matter, the offense will pick him up against Anthony Ranaudo and win a high scoring game.
• The Blue Jays over the Orioles: I have learned over the years not to pick a team the day after they seal the division. Besides, the Orioles are pitching Ubaldo Jimenez. I'll go with Drew Hutchison in hopes he will have a good game.
• The Mets over the Marlins: I know this didn't work out yesterday. And Nathan Eovaldi is capable of a big game. I just think that Bartolo Colon is due for one of his good games at home.
• The Rays over the Yankees: I asked Katie Sharp about the Yankees' line drive rate for the last two weeks and she told me that it was the lowest in the majors. I'm not surprised. They made a 4-A pitcher look like a god last night. Imagine what will happen against Jake Odorizzi. Actually, Odorizzi was the last guy they scored more than three runs against. No matter. The Yankees never score for Michael Pineda anyway.
• The Nationals over the Braves: The Braves are now a .500 team. Amazing. The Nationals are pushing for the clinch. Tanner Roark over Aaron Harang.
• The Reds over the Cubs: This pick did not work out yesterday because the Reds have sipped the same offensive Kool-aid as the Yankees and Braves. But Johnny Cueto goes for his nineteenth win, so I need to go there. Jake Arrieta gentille Arrieta will try to prevent it.
• The Royals over the White Sox: Despite the fact that Jose Abreu might hit a ball thrown by Liam Hendriks to St. Louis, I'm going with the Royals with a win over Chris Bassitt who did pitch well his last time out.
• The Tigers over the Twins: The odds of Ricky Nolasco beating the Tigers? 100-1? Rick Porcello hasn't had a great second half, but he should win this thing as the Tigers inch closer to another danged division win.
• The Cardinals over the Brewers: With a day off, the Cardinals should be fresh as daisies and Lance Lynn has been solid all season. Wily Peralta seems to be running out of steam. The Brewers showed so much promise earlier this season. It all fizzled.
• The Dodgers over the Rockies: Yes, this could be high scoring. But I've learned not to pick the Rockies (again). I must have lost my mind or something. Dan Haren and Tyler Matzek get the starts.
• The Diamondbacks over the Giants: The Giants have been the biggest hot and cold teams all season. They are either great for stretches or terrible for stretches. It's weird. Jake Peavy has been sensational for the Giants. But he is due for a bad game. Josh Collmenter has been one of the bright spots for the D-backs all season.
• The Mariners over the Angels: What did I say about picking against teams that just clinched? Yeah. Roenis Elias is not exactly reliable. But the Angels will be giddy. And I don't get warm fuzzies when Cory Rasmus starts.
• The Athletics over the Rangers: The Rangers have come alive and they are pitching suddenly. So this pick is uncomfortable. It is especially so since Scott Kazmir's wild streak has come back. Nick Tepesch goes for the Rangers. The A's will find a way.
• The Phillies over the Padres: Ian Kennedy simply doesn't do it for me. Ever. I mean, I root for him, but he is just an average pitcher. That might be enough against the Phillies if the Padres could hit. A.J. Burnett goes for the Phillies.

And the Game of the Day:

• The Indians over the Astros: Nick Tropeano did win his first MLB start, but let's not get carried away. He is facing Corey Kluber after all.

Yesterday: 6-6, Sept.: 121-85, Games of the Day: 95-63 (+3), Season: 1251-1019