Do you like baseball? It’s probably a silly question given that you are currently reading this article, but it’s also a pertinent one given that there are 17 games on the diamond today. You read that right. 17. You have some inclement weather and a couple doubleheaders to thank for this bountiful feast. Enjoy.
Here’s what I’m looking at on the DraftKings Sportsbook.
San Diego Padres at Pittsburgh Pirates
Padres -1.5 (+102)
Any way you slice it, this seems like a pretty lopsided matchup. Let’s start with the duel on the mound. Michael King will take the ball for the Padres, while Marco Gonzales will toe the rubber for the Pirates. To the uninformed, just know that King is on an absolute heater at the moment. In fact, going back as far as May 27, King has maintained a 2.27 ERA and a 2.10 FIP with a 30.7% strikeout rate across 63.1 innings of work. It’s a stretch where he’s allowed a single earned run or fewer in eight of his 11 appearances.
Conversely, though Gonzales technically holds a 3.72 ERA in his six starts in 2024, his 6.12 xERA tells a much different story. As per usual, the veteran LHP isn’t missing many bats and he’s conceding quite a bit of loud contact — his opponent barrel rate is 10.2%. At some point, regression is going to hit Gonzales hard.
“At some point” might be tonight. San Diego is having little trouble putting up runs in recent contests. Across the past two weeks, the Padres actually own the league’s fourth-highest wRC+ (141) and wOBA (.364). Meanwhile, in that same span, Pittsburgh ranks 25th in wRC+ (91) and 26th in ISO (.137). Though the team did acquire a couple MLB bats at the trade deadline, the Pirates’ lineup is simply not one you have to fear. King should have little issue picking this squad apart.
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Tampa Bay Rays at St. Louis Cardinals
Taj Bradley Over 16.5 Outs Recorded (-125)
I’m a little shocked to see this prop so low. Yes, Bradley is on the heels of by far his worst start in two months; however, that’s a pretty low bar when you consider that the RHP was rocking a 0.82 ERA over the nine starts prior to surrendering four earned runs to the Marlins last week. Everyone’s allowed a little bump in the road, right? For the season as a whole, Bradley’s in possession of a 2.71 ERA and a 3.33 SIERA. His 96.3 mph average fastball velocity ranks in the top 10 of pitchers who have thrown at least 80 innings in 2024 and he’s managed to strike out 30.0% of the batters he’s faced. It appears that the Rays have manufactured yet another young ace.
Bradley’s also recorded at least 17 outs in seven of his last nine starts. He’ll look to make that eight of 10 when he faces the Cardinals on Wednesday evening. St. Louis’ bats have been underwhelming all season long, with both Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado having career-worst campaigns. Across the past 14 days, the Cardinals own just a .304 wOBA and a 98 wRC+. I doubt they’ll give Bradley too much of an issue.
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All odds provided by DraftKings Sportsbook and all odds subject to change.
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All views expressed are my own. I am an employee of DraftKings and am ineligible to play in public DFS or DKSB contests.
