Wednesday, April 24, 2013

MLB Game Picks - Wednesday: April 24, 2013

Oh my. This is embarrassing. Suddenly in this office chair sits an old man reverted back to little boy saying in a small voice, "Mommy." There have been three days so far this week. Two of them have been unmitigated disasters. There is no reason to even be mildly annoyed that two more freaking games were postponed by the weather. They would not have mattered.

There were two double-headers played yesterday. I got both ends of both wrong. The Game of the Day was wrong. Everything was wrong. And this was a worst of days despite correctly picking the Cubs to beat the Reds. Gosh, this is bad.

I want to take my whiffle ball and bat and just go home and say, "I'm not playing anymore." But I cannot. It is a long season and like the Blue Jays, I just have to keep plugging away and perhaps I can dig myself out of this huge hole. I doubt it will happen this week. But there will be better days. As George Harrison once said, "All things must pass."

I counted the list of games on Wednesday three times and came up with fourteen games. Fourteen!? On a Wednesday? Why would there only be fourteen games on a Wednesday? Many of the fourteen are of the getaway variety. I love day games.

Wednesday's picks:

  • The Reds over the Cubs: I want to pick Jeff Samardzija over Mat Latos. But I could not be correct in the Cubs beating a team like the Reds for two days in a row. Not with the Reds at home.
  • The Blue Jays over the Orioles: Yes, the Blue Jays are off to a disappointing start and so has Brandon Morrow. The rotation was supposed to save this franchise and instead has melted it. But gosh, my Josh, the Orioles are starting journeyman, minor league pitcher, Josh Stinson. Stinson's minor league numbers do not wow you.
  • The Nationals over the Cardinals: Okay, so this was the year there would be no limitations on Stephen Strasburg. Now we would be able to enjoy him completely. And yet, he has only been so-so so far this season. Is the overpowering pitcher still in there somewhere? Perhaps tonight will tell us. Jaime Garcia goes for the Cards.
  • The White Sox over the Indians: Same match-up as the one yesterday that was rained out. And I still think Jose Quintana beats Zach McAllister.
  • The Mariners over the Astros: Justin Maxwell broke his hand and that does not help the Astros' cause. The M's really are not that much better than the 'Stros and proved out by the Astros' win yesterday. But Joe Saunders finds ways to win. Lucas Harrell goes for the Astros.
  • The Braves over the Rockies: This one sounds completely like a mismatch. And that is what scares me. But in every perfect world, Tim Hudson should beat Tyler Chatwood. Too bad Coors Field is not a perfect world.
  • The Diamondbacks over the Giants: Yeah, picking against Madison Bumgarner would not seem to help the cause this week. But what the heck. Ian Kennedy has made it a habit of beating Giants' pitchers for two years now.
  • The Red Sox over the Athletics: The drubbing the A's put on the Red Sox yesterday was rather indicative of how the day went for me. But I just wrote about Jon Lester for Big Leagues Magazine so I have got to pick the guy, right? Brett Anderson goes for the A's.
  • The Phillies over the Pirates: I cannot get these two teams correctly this week. Wandy Rodriguez has been really good for the Pirates. But he faces Roy Halladay, who has looked a lot like the old Roy Halladay lately.
  • The Tigers over the Royals: Same pitching line as the one rained out yesterday and I still think Max Scherzer beats Wade Davis.
  • The Mets over the Dodgers: Matt Harvey should come down a little to earth here eventually. But picking when is the problem. I do not think it will be today as he is pitching at home and gets to go against Ted Lilly. Lilly is making his first start of the season after coming back from shoulder surgery.
  • The Yankees over the Bay Rays: It is impossible for me to pick against Andy Pettitte at this point in his career. His last few years have been such a bonus that I want it to last forever. I also like Alex Cobb and his ground ball stuff. So I will just leave this pick here and see what happens.
  • The Brewers over the Padres: I continue in my constant quest to never pick Edinson Volquez for a win. It is not that Marco Estrada fills me with glee. But still.
And the Game of the Day!
  • The Rangers over the Angels: Okay, here is my big line of the day for the big finish. Are you ready? Here it comes: I have chosen against a Roth ERA. Sorry about that. Anyway, Michael Roth has started all of ten professional games in his career. And here he is going to start against the Rangers? If that was not difficult enough, he gets to face Yu Darvish. Good luck, kid.

Yesterday: 4-11    Just shoot me
Week: 15-27     Yeah, that is pretty
Month: 167-129
Games of the Day: 16-7   Yesterday was so bad, I even had a typo on this stat.

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