I picked terribly yesterday. Picture the old knight in the Indiana Jones movie: "He chose...poorly." Yes, I did. Looking back, I picked way too many visiting teams to win. No matter how bad a team is, home is always an advantage. According to Baseball-reference.com, home teams win 53.4 percent of the time. That is a pretty significant difference. So if I pick six out of nine visiting teams to win, then I am setting myself up for disaster. And disaster it was.
Let's see if I learned anything. Friday's picks:
- The Cubs over the Reds: Heh. Now I am all messed up because I don't want to pick Johnny Cueto because he is not at home. Jason Hammel is pitching very well for the Cubs though and that's my pick.
- The Yankees over the Orioles: I am now worried about the Yankees' bullpen with their closer on the DL. So although I like Michael Pineda much more than Ubaldo Jimenez, the pick has me big time worried.
- The Pirates over the Phillies: It never ceases to amaze me that Kevin Correia somehow always manages to find a job in baseball. But he's back. I will go with Jeff Locke though. Which is my point.
- The Tigers over the Indians: Two very good pitchers square up here in David Price and Danny Salazar. I give the edge to Price because he will go deeper into the game.
- The Mets over the Braves: If Bartolo Colon was pitching on the road, I would take the Braves here because Alex Wood is very good at preventing runs. But at home, Colon can seem to have some really good moments.
- The Rays over the White Sox: This pick is not so much a support of Matt Andriese, though he did pitch well against the Yankees. Rather, it is my long distrust of John Danks as a Major League pitcher.
- The Marlins over the Rockies: Uh...one of these pitchers has to win. Kyle Kendrick is not somebody I ever like to pick. But, Jose Urena hasn't exactly been lighting it up for the Marlins either. Ick. Christian Yelich appears to be over his slump. That helps.
- The Blue Jays over the Red Sox: The Red Sox starting pitching continues to be a problem and I don't see Joe Kelly being able to stop the steamrolling Blue Jays. The key is Drew Hutchison having a good night though.
- The Rangers over the Twins: Is it just me or doesn't it seem that Wandy Rodriguez pitches every other day for the Rangers? I'm not that big on picking him. But Tommy Milone doesn't seem any more appetizing.
- The Mariners over the Astros: You always have to pick Felix Hernandez. The guy is having a phenomenal season. That seems like a much smarter play than Brett Oberholtzer.
- The Nationals over the Brewers: The Nats offense is still a bit of a sputter outfit. Getting Denard Span back helps. Jordan Zimmermann is hard to count on lately. Mike Fiers can't seem to find last year's magic.
- The Cardinals over the Royals: Jaime Garcia traditionally pitches well at home. Yordano Ventura has a history of hitting Cardinal players so that bad blood will need to be watched. This rivalry has become must-see baseball.
- The Angels over the Athletics: One of the few picks from yesterday that worked out. I'm not a big fan of Hector Santiago. But he is pitching better this year than Jesse Chavez.
- The Dodgers over the Padres: Clayton Kershaw is hitting his stride and I don't think tonight will be different. Odrisamer Despaigne has not been very good.
And the Pick of the Day:
- The Giants over the Diamondbacks: Madison Bumgarner against Chase Anderson at Bumgarner's home park? Yes. Give me some of that please.
Yesterday: 3-6, June: 73-71, Season: 451-424, Picks of the Day: 35-30
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