I’m playing mostly F5’s in baseball right now, with most of the focus being placed on the starting pitchers. That doesn’t rule out full game wagers, but if I am losing the bullpen battle on paper, it simply makes more sense to play F5 only, even if it means sacrificing a bit as far as the betting lines are concerned. Here’s another one that fits for me on Friday evening.
ATHLETICS (Graveman) at WHITE SOX (Shields)
Take: ATHLETICS F5
I really cannot make much of a case for Oakland righty Kendall Graveman as he’s pretty much a #5 starter and that’s about it.
But I definitely like the idea of going against shopworn White Sox starter James Shields. The veteran righty enjoyed a brief run where he got a few good results, in spite of some shaky peripherals. But he’s now pretty much back to where he was earlier in the season, and that’s simply not big league caliber.
Shields has been around long enough so that he’ll occasionally have the game where he locates what he has left well enough to sneak by, but I don’t see that happening on a regular basis. There’s just nothing in his ledger to suggest there’s much left, and he has now reached the point where his mistakes get crushed.
I have to play this F5 only. I don’t trust the Oakland bullpen even a little bit, and the White Sox should own a pretty substantial late inning edge. But for the first half, I sure have no problem trying to beat Shields. So Graveman and the A’s get a bet from me here.
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