ORIOLES (Gausman) @ YANKEES (Nova)
Take: ORIOLES +113
Kevin Gausman was crushed in his most recent outing and the talented Baltimore righty continues to be plagued by inconsistency. The stuff is definitely there, but the ability to keep things together still hasn’t arrived.
I’ll still favor Gausman over Ivan Nova for the time being. Nova just hasn’t looked sharp in his four starts since coming back from his long DL stint and he’s going to have to show me more before I can consider backing him.
The Yankees are establishing themselves as the favorite to win the AL East and Joe Girardi has his team playing with confidence right now. But Nova is at least for the time being the weak link in the rotation. We’re talking small sample with both Gausman and Nova here in terms of 2015 innings, but the meaningful metrics clearly indicate Gausman when compared with Nova. That’s big for me, as I like going with underdog pitchers who own the edges in the key categories I focus on.
I made this game a virtual pick ’em, so while it’s not slam dunk value, grabbing more than a dime with the visitors is a worthwhile wager and I’m taking the Orioles for my Wednesday free play.
My Early 2* Best Bet is loaded