| Yesterday | 2 | 2 | 0.00 | +0.20 |
| Last 30 Days | 2 | 2 | 0.00 | +0.20 |
| Season to Date | 2 | 2 | 0.00 | +0.20 |
<tbody>
</tbody>
ARIZONA -120 over St. Louis
[FONT=arial !important][FONT=arial !important][FONT=arial !important]We really liked what we saw in the Diamondbacks win over the Cardinals last night. This is a team that had fire in their eyes right from the first pitch on. The D-Backs ripped off 15 hits in a 6-2 win over St. Louis last night. That score is actually flattering to the Cardinals, as it could’ve and probably should’ve been about 10-2. Aggressive at the plate and ripping balls into the gap all evening, Arizona can’t wait to get back on the field here. Trevor Cahill could be in for a big year. Trevor Cahill saw his ground-ball rate increase to an elite 61% in 2012. In addition, his skills spiked in the second half in terms of his control, strikeout rate and an even higher ground-ball rate of 63%. Cahill’s fastball velocity jumped +1.2 mph in 2012. His swinging strike rate jumped from 7.6% in 2012 to 9.3% in 2013. Don't dismiss the chance that he could emerge among the elite starters in the game. Also note that current Cardinals have just 31 AB’s against Cahill and have gone just 7-21 (.226). That, too, works in our favor.[/FONT][FONT=arial !important]
Jaime Garcia's once promising career has been derailed by injury. He suffered a strained rotator cuff in last year’s playoffs, he has a balky shoulder and he was diagnosed with a frayed labrum late in 2012. He’s the walking wounded. Garcia’s fastball velocity has been on a steady decline. Since 2010, his fastball has decreased from 90.3 to 89.8 to 88.7 mph last season. That, combined with his shoulder concerns, is a significant reason for caution. Garcia pitched just two innings this spring and has never pitched at hitter friendly Chase Field. There’s value in playing favorites when said favorite should be a much higher price than the one posted. This one falls into that category.[/FONT]
[/FONT][/FONT]
San Francisco +101 over LOS ANGELES
[FONT=arial !important][FONT=arial !important][FONT=arial !important]The Dodgers had a big off-season when they signed Zack Greinke. He and Clayton Kershaw make up what has to be considered the best 1-2 punch in the majors. The sky is the ceiling for Greinke at Chavaz Ravine and we all know what Kershaw is capable of. The Dodgers had a big opening day and come into this season with much hype but in reality, other than signing Greinke, the Dodgers added very little. Adrian Gonzalez and Matt Kemp are strong in the meat of the order but doesn’t every team have at least two guys with big bats? After that pair, there’s not a lot to get excited about in the Dodgers’ lineup. Carl Crawford you say? We say he did nothing in Boston, he’s older and perhaps a bit rusty too after appearing in just 31 games last year. The Dodgers are now favored with another unproven commodity in Korean-born southpaw Hyun-Jin Ryu. The Dodgers signed Ryu, one of the top Korean pitchers, to a six-year, $36M deal. He’s the owner of a 2.80 career ERA over seven seasons in the Korean league. Ryu had plenty of work in the spring, tossing 27 frames while posting a 2-2 record with a 3.29 ERA. However, this isn’t spring, nor is it the Korean League and he’ll face a Giants line-up that went 40-19 a year ago against southpaws. Ryu has great control but he’s more of a finesse type pitcher that relies on his ability to change speeds. Against Madison Bumgarner, Ryu and the Dodgers are wrongly billed as the chalk here.[/FONT][FONT=arial !important]
Make no mistake about it, Bumgarner is a young virtuoso. This is one of those pitching profiles that has developed its own rhythm and it's full of high notes. A solid strikeout rate and great command is a good place to start. Bumgarner is coming off a year in which he went 14-10 with a 3.28 ERA and he usually gets off to a great start. In fact, from April to June of last year, Bumgarner went 10-4 with a 2.98 ERA. He’s coming off a good spring in which he went 2-0 with a 2.29 ERA. Last season, after July 1, Bumgarner’s skills were off the charts with high strikeout and groundball rates and an xERA of 2.21. He is now firmly among the game's elite starters. With essentially the same roster that captured their second World Series title in the last three years, the Giants are not going to endure many losing streaks this season. This is a true contender again and this isn’t Clayton Kershaw they’ll be facing here.
Note: These lines are what I got on for earlier in the day. For tracking purposes, that is what I'm using.
[/FONT][/FONT]
[/FONT]
