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Diamondbacks vs Dodgers ML
Clayton Kershaw is back, but it is unclear in what capacity. The Dodgers have been mum on Kershaw’s potential usage today and Mitch White’s call-up makes me think he’s really today’s primary pitcher. On the flip side, Merrill Kelly is starting for the D-Backs. In the past, that sentence would be met with a chuckle, possibly a slap on the knee, but Kelly looked tremendous in his first start of the season taking a no-hitter into the 7th inning vs the Rangers. Kelly made various adjustments last September (more cutters, increased velocity) that paid immediate dividends.
Merrill Kelly made very late adjustments in 2019
September adjustments were made:
⬇️ Curve & Changeups thrown
⬆️ Cutter & Sinkers thrown
(Emphasis on adding MPH)September stats:
33 IP
35 K 👀
10 BB 🥴2.18 ERA ⭐
1.03 WHIP 🌟
9.55 K/9.237 xBA
.303 xwOBA 🔥#FantasyBaseball pic.twitter.com/zO1HEEGBEy— Dave Swan (@davithius) April 20, 2020
It seems as if the good times might continue to roll for Kelly, creating sneaky value for a huge underdog today.
Pick: Diamondbacks (+165 DK, +166 FD)
Astros Angels O/U 5.5 First 5 Innings
Shohei Ohtani and Josh James both have electric stuff. Both have very high potential and certainly might pitch in this league for a very long time, but that has little to do with what is going to happen when they face-off later today. Combined, these two have gotten 9 hitters out this season while walking 8! This spells trouble for the early innings of this game and both teams should be able to put runs up early and often.
Pick: O 5.5 (-110 DK)
Astros O/U 5.5
Back to this game, did I mention how terrible Shohei Ohtani was last Sunday? He allowed 5 hits, 3 BBs, and 5 ER without retiring a single batter. Back in 2018, Ohtani was sitting upper 90s and devastating the opposition with his disgusting splitter. Last week, he was barely touching 93 and only used his splitter 6.7% of the time. That is not a dominant pitcher. Heck, that is barely a good pitcher. Additionally, the Angels bullpen has thrown the 9th most innings in baseball over the last seven days via FTN’s Bullpen Usage Report. This bullpen is not very good fully rested, tired they might become batting practice for the Astros. Expect them to put a crooked number up.
Pick: Astros O 5.4 (-103 DK)
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Featured image by Justin Paradis (@freshmeatcomm on Twitter)
Gonsolin was optioned. So he won’t be pitching at all today.