MLB Game Picks - Sunday: June 14, 2015

Yesterday was a 9-6 picking day. It could have been at least one correct pick better if the Mets' bullpen hadn't crashed and burned. Collin McHugh crashed and burned too. That let me down. The Blue Jays won again, I believe their tenth in a row. That always leaves a picking dilemma because all streaks have to end some time. The entire AL East is weird right now. The Red Sox and Yankees look terrible and every other team in the division is playing gangbusters. Let's see what happens today.

Sunday's picks:

• The Indians over the Tigers: I didn't know what to do with this one. I don't like picking the Indians on the road. And Corey Kluber has only shown glimpses of his last year form. But if he is on, look out. Alfredo Simon goes for the Tigers.
• The Braves over the Mets: I've already shown how when I pick too many road games I get in trouble. But I like Mike Foltynewicz and can now spell his name. And Dillon Gee can't seem to get out of his own way this year.
• The White Sox over the Rays: All that said and I pick my third straight road team. Oy. But it is Chris Sale! I have to! Of course, Nate Karns has been awful tough too. Geez.
• The Marlins over the Rockies: I think it is safe to finally pick a home team. Dan Haren is quietly having a good year. Jorge De La Rosa is probably the Rockies' most reliable starter though.
• The Orioles over the Yankees: Adam Warren has been the most consistent Yankee starter and watch, when Ivan Nova comes back, it will be Warren that gets booted to the bullpen. But the Yankees look terrible right now and the Orioles look great. Mike Wright goes for them.
• The Pirates over the Phillies: A.J. Burnett out-duels Cole Hamels. That is all.
• The Red Sox over the Blue Jays: I have to start picking that the Blue Jays' streak will end. It's the law of averages. And Eduardo Rodriguez has been terrific for the Red Sox. Marco Estrada is someone the Red Sox can tee off against.
• The Astros over the Mariners: I really like Lance McCullers and I think the Mariners' offensive explosion was a one time thing. I am going with the Astros doing well against Roenis Elias and winning this one.
• The Nationals over the Brewers: I haven't been doing too well picking aces lately. but they are aces for a reason. Max Scherzer really should win this one even though Taylor Jungmann was really good in his MLB debut.
• The Cardinals over the Royals: The Royals are one team that really suffers when losing their DH in a National League park. The Cards have already taken the first two games. Now we will see if they can sweep with John Lackey on the mound against Chris Young.
• The Angels over the Athletics: The Angels finish the sweep and beat my favorite, Sonny Gray, in the process. That is because Matt Shoemaker will be good too.
• The Giants over the Diamondbacks: The Giants haven't scored at all in this series, but that could change today as they face Rubby De La Rosa who has been getting hit hard lately. I'm always leery of a pitcher coming off a no-hitter, but Chris Heston is my pick today.
• The Dodgers over the Padres: This pick was wrong yesterday as Ian Kennedy held the Dodgers down (surprisingly). James Shields is currently capable of that as well. But I have had great success picking Mike Bolsinger thus far this year and I'm sticking to it.
• The Cubs over the Reds: Jon Lester has to keep the top of the lineup in check and then deal with Todd Frasier, a good right-handed bat. If he can do those things, he can win. He will have to be on his game because Anthony DeSclafani has been pretty solid for the Reds.

And the Pick of the Day:

• The Rangers over the Twins: The Rangers have been on a roll and the Twins are rolling backwards. Phil Hughes will give up a homer or two and Nick Martinez will continue his good pitching. The wild card here is Buxton.

Yesterday: 9-6, June: 92-82, Season: 470-435, Picks of the Day: 36-31

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 - Wednesday: June 3, 2015

Man! There were a lot of games yesterday. When all was said and done, I finished at 11-6 for the day. I picked three of the four games of the double-headers correctly.  The Pick of the Day was wrong (again) as Noah Syndergaard got roughed around by the Padres...a development I obviously did not expect. My best picks of the day were the Indians over the Royals and Clay Buchholz beating the Twins.

Sixteen more games on tap for tonight! The picks:

• The Red Sox over the Twins: I really like this Eduardo Rodriguez kid. He has poise and no fear and I think he will survive better today better than Phil Hughes does in Fenway Park.
• The Red Sox over the Twins: Yes, I am picking a sweep. I think the Red Sox will hit Trevor May and Rick Porcello will pitch well. The fire the manager talk will settle down for a day or so (unfortunately) .
• The Cardinals over the Brewers: Judging by how this week is going, the Cardinals will either win, 1-0 or love 1-0. I like John Lackey at home in St. Louis, but also think that Jimmy Nelson will pitch well.
• The Braves over the Diamondbacks: I have come to like Mike Foltynewicz because I learned how to spell his name without looking early on. He hasn't pitched poorly either. Rubby De La Rosa goes for the D-backs. Caution: The D-backs have had their way so far this series.
• The Yankees over the Mariners: If the Yankees' middle relief can hold up and bridge Masahiro Tanaka to the late inning guys, the Yankees should take care of the rest with just enough offense against Taijuan Walker.
• The Giants over the Pirates: The Giants will salvage one game of this series with a win today behind Tim Hudson. Francisco Liriano won his last outing, but so cannot be counted upon. The Pirates are hot as a team though.
• The Blue Jays over the Nationals: Taylor and Tyler seem to be the new cool names in baseball. I'm not sure they have overtaken the Brandons, but it seems close when combining those variations. There will be one less if Taylor Jordan doesn't pitch better than he did last time. Mark Buehrle goes for the Jays.
• The Athletics over the Tigers: It's Sonny Gray Day! That's all I've got to say. Come what may from Anibal Sanchez's day, the A's win will be this picking day's halfway.
• The Cubs over the Marlins: Christian Yelich is in a terrible slump and Giancarlo Stanton is on a bit of a strikeout jag. Both of those facts could be exploited by Jon Lester today. Dan Haren has leveled off after a big start to the season.
• The White Sox over the Rangers: The Rangers are extremely hot right now and Nick Martinez has pitched well all season. But I just cannot pick against Chris Sale who is capable of no hitting a team on any given day.
• The Astros over the Orioles: I have no idea who is going to win this game. None. Lance McCullers has pitched really well, but doesn't go deep in the game. Miguel Gonzalez is good sometimes and not sometimes. I have no idea.
• The Indians over the Royals: This is risky picking the Indians to beat the Royals twice in a row. But if Corey Kluber is dominant and the Indians get to Jason Vargas, it could happen.
• The Dodgers over the Rockies: I have been riding Mike Bolsinger so far for his young career and I will continue to do so here. I am, however, afraid of him pitching at Coors. Chad Bettis, meanwhile, almost pitched a no-hitter his last time out. Hmmm
• The Padres over the Mets: I would be hesitant to pick Dillon Gee at this point to win any game. But add James Shields to the mix  and my hesitancy goes even higher.
• The Angels over the Rays: Nate Karns has had a pretty solid start to his MLB career. But I can't pick him against the Angels' offense. He is not Chris Archer, after all. Hector Santiago goes for the Angels.

And the Pick of the Day:

• The Phillies over the Reds: Mike Leake has leaked a lot lately after a fine start to the season. I think it was because I jumped on him for my fantasy team. It was all downhill from there. Cole Hamels goes for the Phils.

Yesterday: 11-6, June: 16-10, Season: 394-363, Picks of the Day: 30-26

MLB Game Picks - Friday: May 22, 2015

Finally! It took my son's birthday to get me on track! I only got three wrong for the day yesterday for a much needed boost to my picking morale. Now, if I can keep this going, I would be most thankful!

Friday's picks:

• The Pirates over the Mets: Noah Syndegaard has been everything the Mets had hoped he'd be. But Gerrit Cole is everything the Pirates hoped he'd be too. As the starters cancel each other out, I'll go with the home team.
• The Yankees over the Rangers: The Yankees get some much needed home cooking after a brutal road trip and have their best pitcher on the mound. The Rangers go with Colby Lewis, who I will no longer bad-mouth.
• The Mariners over the Blue Jays: Let's see...would you go with Felix Hernandez or Marco Estrada? No brainer right? Those are always the ones that trip me up though.
• The Tigers over the Astros: I love me some Collin McHugh. But here's the thing: The Astros ONLY hit homers. They have like a .200 batting average. The Tigers' home park is massive. So not many homers are hit there. I'm going with Alfredo Simon and the Tigers.
• The Orioles over the Marlins: The Marlins have gone from bad to worse under their new manager. What a dumb organization that is. Anyway, I like Ubaldo Jimenez's chances in Miami better than Henderson Alvarez as he is currently pitching.
• The Indians over the Reds: The Reds have hit hard times of late and Mike Leake is leading the way with quite a drop off in production since his early starts. Carlos Carrasco is a quality starter.
• The Angels over the Red Sox: The Red Sox are reeling and can't seem to hit lately. They keep tinkering with things and they should just get something they believe in and leave it alone for a while. But anyway, I like Garrett Richards over Mike Porcello here.
• The Rays over the Athletics: Disaster has struck the A's as they have sunk to the depths of the AL. Boom goes the division championship dreams! Scott Kazmir hasn't been at fault. But I think Chris Archer is the difference here.
• The Brewers over the Braves: The Brewers are a hot team right now, so I'm sticking with them while they are sizzling. Shame on Fredi Gonzalez for the pine tar incident. That was a cheap shot.  Wily Peralta and Alex Wood are the starters.
• The White Sox over the Twins: Phil Hughes and Jeff Samardzija have been encouraging to their respective teams with their last starts. I simply like the threat of the long ball against Hughes by the White Sox hitters.
• The Rockies over the Giants: The Giants just made the Dodgers look like silly putty. So why pick against them? Because baseball is funny. I don't like either starter here in either Ryan Vogelsong or Kyle Kendrick. But one of them has to win.
• The Royals over the Cardinals: You have to admit that everything is going right for the Royals when they sign Chris Young and he starts out going 3-0. They are charmed right now. They are also the perfect offense against Lance Lynn as they don't strike out and sit on fastballs.
• The Cubs over the Diamondbacks: The D-backs have been playing some good baseball of late. Jon Lester, however, has been coming on strong for the Cubs. Josh Collmenter was good his last time out but isn't as good as Lester.
• The Dodgers over the Padres: The Padres are going to pay for what happened to the Dodgers in San Francisco. Again, that's baseball. Speaking of baseball, Andrew Cashner has had quality starts in six of his last seven outings and is 1-7. Ouch. Zack Greinke goes for the Dodgers.

And the Pick of the Day

• The Nationals over the Phillies: Sean O'Sullivan shut me up his last outing and pitched really well. But he runs up against Max Scherzer. And the Nats are hot and Bryce Harper got thrown out of his last game. Look out.

Yesterday: 9-3, May: 140-119, Season: 304-284, Picks of the Day: 24-20

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