The calendar flips to August and we start off with, well, a very short slate of baseball. Only five games are on the schedule and THREE of them have some legitimate weather concerns. Keep and eye before placing your bets tonight. Until then, I’ll give you some of my favorite MLB bets you can tail on DraftKings Sportsbook.
Follow me on Twitter for daily MLB picks and info @SBuchanan24.
Atlanta Braves vs. Miami Marlins
The Pick: Marcell Ozuna over 1.5 bases -115
Ozuna has been the most consistent bat in the Braves lineup all season long. When it comes to going over 1.5 bases, he’s done so in 51 of his 107 games played, good for 47% of the season. Tonight, he’ll go against the recently returning Max Meyer of the Marlins. We haven’t seen a ton of him this season, as he’s logged only 21 innings of work. Over that span, he’s been pitching well, posting a 3.00 ERA with an xERA of 3.76 and a 4.26 FIP. However, the two main pitches he throws, a fastball and a slider, are ones that Ozuna is smashing this season. Ozuna has a .450 wOBA and a .312 ISO against the fastball and a .444 wOBA with a .396 ISO against the slider. Meyer has thrown those pitches a combined 86% of the time, so it’s safe to assume he’ll see those in his at bats. On a slate where we don’t have a lot of options to choose from, this is one of my favorite plays on the evening.
Kansas City Royals at Detroit Tigers
The Pick: Royals run line -0.5 through first five innings -110
This game has weather concerns so check the latest forecast before placing your bet.
Seth Lugo has been pitching at a Cy Young caliber level. Even with a lack of strikeouts, he’s generating outs and a healthy amount of ground balls. Tonight, he’ll take on the Tigers for the second time this season. In the first matchup, Lugo cruised through seven shutout innings, allowing just three hits and nine strikeouts. I’m not expecting that many strikeouts again tonight, but keeping this offense quite is certainly in play. This game also takes place on the road, where Lugo has a 2.51 ERA with a .267 wOBA and a 3.21 FIP.
On the other side of the ball, the Royals bats will take on Keider Montero. He’s been BRUTAL since being called up to the majors. Through 36.2 innings, he sports a 6.38 ERA with an xERA of 5.35 and a 6.08 FIP. Montero has allowed at LEAST four runs in four of the six appearances he’s made since being called up. In fact, he’s allowed exactly five earned runs in three straight starts against the Twins, Blue Jays and Dodgers. With all this in mind and if the weather holds off, I’m looking to fire on the Royals with the lead through five innings.
Follow me on Twitter for daily MLB picks and info @SBuchanan24
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All odds provided by DraftKings Sportsbook and all odds subject to change.
All views expressed are my own. I am an employee of DraftKings and am ineligible to play in public DFS or DKSB contests. The contents contained in this article do not constitute a representation that any particular strategy will guarantee success. All customers should use their own skill and judgment in building lineups.
