Happy Tuesday, sports betting amigos! I hope your week has gotten off to a fantastic start. Welcome to our daily column of MLB openers, where we try our best to get ahead of some line moves and gain that coveted closing line value.
We went 6-3 with these plays last week, so hopefully we can keep things rolling. Always remember to practice sound money management at all times. Baseball is a long grind, and we must bet conservatively to stay in the game over a full season.
Check out our 2 MLB openers for Tuesday, May 13th, below. Let's cash these, baseball fans. As always, make sure to select listed pitchers at whichever sportsbook you're playing these at. Best of luck!
MIL at CLE - 6:10 PM EDT
Both of these starters leave a lot to be desired, to put it nicely. I'm not too crazy about Quinn Priester or Logan Allen. That being said, this play is based mainly on the depth of Cleveland's bullpen.
The Guardians have plenty of good arms in relief, and they rank a solid 8th in K minus BB rate. The Brewers, on the other hand, rank just 21st in that vital stat. Cleveland's pen also ranks 10th in FIP, while Milwaukee ranks just 19th.
I also prefer the Guardians' offense over the Brewers. They do miss Josh Naylor quite a bit, but they still hit righties well enough (14th in WRC+ vs RHP). Jose Ramirez quietly continues to be one of the best hitters in the AL, so Priester could have a hard time keeping him at bay in this one.
I don't know what in the world is wrong with this Brewers lineup, but they've been ice cold all season long. Milwaukee ranks just 22nd in WRC+ against lefties and dead last in overall WRC+ over the last 2 weeks. Let's bank on this steady Cleveland bullpen to help get the W for the hometown team on Tuesday night.
AZ at SF - 9:45 PM EDT
Some of the advanced stats may disagree with me, but I'm still a big believer in Brandon Pfaadt. He gives up quite a few homers, but I love that he rarely walks many hitters (86th percentile) in walk rate. The young righty is also still getting a ton of swings and misses on both his changeup and his sweeper.
Robbie Ray has looked pretty good lately, but I still have him a notch or two below Pfaadt in my starter pitcher power ratings. The veteran lefty still has a nasty slider, but he has a bad habit of walking way too many hitters. Arizona's offense only ranks 14th against southpaws, but I think they can get at least a couple of runs off of Ray.
The Giants' offense has left me pretty underwhelmed most of the season so far. San Fran ranks 18th in WRC+ against righties and just 21st over the last 14 days. They also have just two hitters with expected slugging percentages above .458. Give me the D'Backs to win a tight one on the road.