We are now 34 games into the 2012 MLB season and the picks sit squarely at .500. This comes after the first full day of picking that ended up with a 7-8 tally. The words of the Book of Revelation come to mind on this Easter Sunday morning: "You are neither hot nor cold..." So yes, the picking has been, "lukewarm."
The final score of yesterday's picks is somewhat surprising in light of correctly picking the Yankees and Red Sox to start their seasons 0-2 (let the panics begin!) and successful predicting a dominating day by Zack Greinke. But enough other bad picks ultimately had the day in the negative column including a surprising win by the Pirates on a day that Cliff Lee was starting for the Phillies. The Phillies' offense is officially a concern, though it is awful early to get too excited about it.
There are fourteen games on today's schedule instead of fifteen, which is odd for a Sunday. The Mariners and Athletics' weird schedule continues as those two teams have today off. Here are the picks:
- The Tigers over the Red Sox: This is a confusing game to pick. The Red Sox are not nearly as bad as they have played. Clay Buchholz wins over 70 percent of his road games historically but has not fared well against the Tigers in three starts at Comerica. Max Scherzer says that this is the best he's ever felt in the spring. So that will be the pick.
- The Indians over the Blue Jays: Derek Lowe should keep the ball on the ground for the Indians so only BABIP will come in to play in whether he wins or loses. This is the dicier part of the Blue Jays' rotation as young Joel Carreno gets the start.
- The Mets over the Braves: Can the Mets really start 3-0? They have arguably their best pitcher on the mound in Jon Niese. Mike Minor could be tough for the Braves though. David Wright is killing the ball in early going for the Mets as is Luke Duda.
- The Marlins over the Reds: As Ozzie backpedals from his Castro episode, which is quite comical considering the Marlins' new stadium is in the heart of Little Havana, his team will get a win as Carlos Zambrano squares up with Bronson Arroyo. Arroyo is fresh off a season where he had the third highest homers allowed in history.
- The Orioles over the Twins: Anthony Swarzak has to make an emergency start after Liam Hendriks came down with food poisoning. Swarzak can twirl a good game here or there. Jason Hammel goes for the Orioles and should have an early benefit of being unknown to the AL his first time around.
- The Pirates over the Phillies: John McDonald needs to pound the strike zone. If he does, he wins. Vance Worley goes for the Phillies. Why is he third and not Hamels?
- The Yankees over the Bay Rays: Jeremy Hellickson versus Phil Hughes. Hughes had a great spring and everyone is counting on him to have a good season. Today will be quite the test to pull at least one win out of this series.
- The Rockies over the Astros: Bud Norris can be really good, but you have to root for Juan Nicasio in this one coming back from a broken neck.
- The Brewers over the Cardinals: The last time the Cardinals saw Randy Wolf, he pitched effectively against them in the playoffs. He seems a better bet in Milwaukee than Lance Lynn who has yet to prove himself as a starter.
- The Cubs over the Nationals: Perhaps the Cubs will try somebody different in the bullpen today after Jeff Samardzija builds a lead. Jordan Zimmermann can be a stud but has struggled against the Cubs.
- The Angels over the Royals: More trust is given in this one to Ervin Santana than to the Royals' starter, Jonathan Sanchez. That's just the feeling here. Early results show Kendrys Morales to be doing just fine on those wheels of his.
- The Dodgers over the Padres: Aaron Harang should be comfortable pitching at Petco after pitching his home games there last season. Clayton Richard just doesn't seem like a big league starter. The Dodgers should jump on him.
- The Rangers over the White Sox: Gavin Floyd is a mystery to this picker. Never know what to do with him. Matt Harrison, on the other hand, is a very underrated starting pitcher. He gets the win. Adrian Beltre is due to do something with the bat.
And the Game of the Day!
- The Giants over the Diamondbacks: Will take Matt Cain over Josh Collmenter pretty much every time out.
Yesterday: 7-8
Last week: 16-16
Season: 17-17
Games of the Day: 2-1
Enjoy the day in however you celebrate it.
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