Updated Record: 27-18, + 25.51 units. Thursday 1-2, -2.90 units. Worst day yet, but not discouraged.
LAA. RL(+105). 2 units. Lots of reasons to like this. Bud Norris has been a horrible away pitcher, and great at home. Last year his ERA was 6.94 on the road. Early on, he is only going 5-6 innings so that Astros bullpen could also add gas to the flames. Tommy Hanson has been a very strong pitcher, early in the season, for most of his career. These Astros are only hitting .195 vs. him over 41 ABs, with 18Ks. Not a big sample size, but the strikeouts are eye popping. The Astros strike out a lot period. The Angels lineup has to be focused after their crappy hitting vs. the very good A's pitchers. Man for man these lineups are so diametrically opposite of each other, it is another reason to like the Angels. Besides, the Astros saw 2 Mariner starters that are really struggling, really struggling.
LAA. RL(+105). 2 units. Lots of reasons to like this. Bud Norris has been a horrible away pitcher, and great at home. Last year his ERA was 6.94 on the road. Early on, he is only going 5-6 innings so that Astros bullpen could also add gas to the flames. Tommy Hanson has been a very strong pitcher, early in the season, for most of his career. These Astros are only hitting .195 vs. him over 41 ABs, with 18Ks. Not a big sample size, but the strikeouts are eye popping. The Astros strike out a lot period. The Angels lineup has to be focused after their crappy hitting vs. the very good A's pitchers. Man for man these lineups are so diametrically opposite of each other, it is another reason to like the Angels. Besides, the Astros saw 2 Mariner starters that are really struggling, really struggling.
Washington -1 (+113). One unit. Teheran, the Braves starter, had a great spring but toiled all 5 innings vs. the Cubs- and that's a week ago when the Cubs couldn't hit a melon coming in. His fastball doesn't move particularly well, his curve is below average and for some reason didn't use his best out pitch, the change. He has struggled with mechanics for the past 3 years even though he has a live arm and decent stuff. Detwiler has great sinking fastball and also needs to use his off speed pitches more. But I think he might due to the fact that Davey Johnson made a point of that after his last start. The Braves also have not hit Detwiler well in the past, and have a few slumping hitters(Heyward, Uggla, BJ Upton, Francisco). This braves team shouldn't be 8-1, but playing the Cubs and Miami will do that for you. They also played Phil. when they were starting out cold.
Mets. ML(-106). The Mets have seen plenty of Vance Worley, but few Twins have seen Niese pitch. This is clearly a game of 2 pitchers going in opposite directions. Niese has pitched well since last August, through the spring and into this season. Worley had a rough year last year, a dismal spring-22 IPs, 34 hits, 16 runs, and a poor start to this year. He has to be fairly exact about his command since his stuff is ordinary, and is still working on a change up. That's not good for a guy whose fastball is nothing special. The Mets are also hitting well as a team, except for Ike Davis. The Twins have a couple of guys hitting well, but nobody exceptional. Both bullpens are so-so, but the Mets are better there than last year, when they were horrendous.
