Wow, just a TON to cover in the opening remarks of this blog, so
PLEASE TAKE A MOMENT TO READ THESE PARAGRAPHS, because I need some feedback.
First, a quick recap of yesterday in the NBA -- we made three total plays, and grabbed a ROBUST 3-0 pure sweep, with the Celtics hanging on, and the Spurs and Pacers blowing out the Lakers and Rockets, respectively. We're 12-4 since last Sunday, so we're really starting to hit our stride in the NBA!
With that in mind, and being that there are no NBA games tonight on NCAA Championship/MLB Season Opener Monday, we have some issues to address. The largest is exactly how to transition the blog platform from one sport to another.
My current plan is subject to change, but what I'd like to do is continue to write the NBA blog the night before the game occur (as we currently do), possibly shortening the write-ups on each game to some length in between the weekday and weekend size, list the MLB odds for the following day within the same blog, then add MLB notes the following morning.
Then, when NBA ends, we'll simply remove NBA from the blog, and continue to list MLB odds the night before and notes in the morning. The reason this works for me is because the site I use to get most of my MLB stats updates at about 8am EST, which means that I need to wait to get the bulk of my handicapping statistics. Baseball notes will be predominantly players that have been exceptionally GOOD or BAD in that day's specific situation. You'll see, when you read below.
For today, however, my stats pages are updated the day before (because these are the first games, after all), so below, I'd like to unveil the FIRST FULL MLB BLOG of the 2010 season! I will not be releasing a Paid Play tomorrow, but starting Tuesday, both MLB and NBA are fair game for some money-making and value-hunting. Let's do this!
Sports Wagering: NBA
No NBA Games Scheduled
Sports Wagering: MLB (Opening lines listed in bold, leans will appear in BLOG RESPONSE AREA)
American League
Indians @ White Sox (-170) with Total of 8.5
Shin-Soo Cho is a lifetime 5-for-12 hitter against Mark Buehrle;
Jhonny Peralta bats .321 off Buehrle in his career in 56 ABs, with 2 homers and 6 RBI;
Mark Grudzielanek is 10-for-31 off Buerhle lifetime;
Mike Redmond is batting .432 off Buerhle in 37 ABs, but is without a longball, and has only driven in 2.
Blue Jays @ Rangers (-145) with Total of 9.5
Michael Young is 4-for-10 lifetime off Shaun Marcum, with 3 driven in;
Adam Lind has 2 homers in just 7 ABs off Scott Feldman.
Tigers @ Royals (-120) with Total of 7
Justin Verlander is 9-2 with a 2.32 ERA lifetime against the Royals;
Johnny Damon is 6-for-17 off Zack Greinke;
Gerald Laird, interestingly, is 6-for-14 off Greinke, but none of the Tigers have any sort of "production" numbers;
Zack Greinke is 11-5 with a 2.50 ERA against Detroit in his career;
Billy Butler is 11-for-26 off Verlander with 2 homers and 3 driven in.
Twins @ Angels (-140) with Total of 8.5
Jason Kubel is 4-for-11 off Jered Weaver with a home and 3 RBI;
Joe Mauer is without a homer off Weaver, but is 6-for-15;
Scott Baker is an awful 0-4 with a 5.59 ERA against the Angels;
Maicer Izturis and Erick Aybar are a combined 6-for-12 off Baker with a homer and 5 RBI.
Mariners (-130) @ Athletics with Total of 7
Felix Hernandez is 8-4, 2.88 ERA lifetime against Oakland;
Daric Barton, Mark Ellis, Eric Patterson and Kurt Suzuki all are .333 or better lifetime hitters against Felix Hernandez.
National League
Phillies (-200) @ Nationals with Total of 7.5
Roy Halladay, somehow, is 5-1, 2.56 ERA against Washington; how has he faced them so much?
Raul Ibanez is a ridiculous 7-for-10 with 2 homers off John Lannan;
Chase Utley is 10-for-21 off Lannan, also with 2 homers, and 6 RBI.
Marlins @ Mets (-120) with Total of 7
Josh Johnson has skunked the Mets lifetime, going 7-0 with a 2.30 ERA;
Fernando Tatis is 8-for-12 off Johnson with a homer;
Cardinals (-155) @ Reds with Total of 7.5
Chris Dickerson is 5-for-10 off Chris Carpenter in his brief career;
Chris Carpenter is 7-3, 2.11 ERA lifetime against the Reds;
Felipe Lopez is 4-for-10 off Aaron Harang with a homer;
Skip Schumaker is 8-for-24 with a homer and 3 driven in;
Interestingly, Pujols (.279) and Holliday (.063) have been mostly non-factors against Harang.
Dodgers (-155) @ Pirates with Total of 8.5
Matt Kemp is 6-for-15 lifetime off Zach Duke;
Russ Martin is 7-for-15 lifetime off Duke with a homer and 4 RBI.
Rockies @ Brewers (-125) with Total of 7.5
Todd Helton is 2-for-5 off Gallardo in limited action;
Troy Tulowitzki is 3-for-6 off Gallardo, and Ian Stewart is 1-for-1 with a homer;
Jim Edmonds (yes, he's still alive) is 3-for-5 off Ubaldo Jimenez with 4 RBI;
Yovani Gallardo is 0-2 with a 9.49 ERA against the Rockies.
Cubs @ Braves (-125) with Total of 8
Mike Fontenot is 4-for-8 off Derek Lowe with 2 RBI;
Derrek Lee is 10-for-24 off Lowe, but just 3 RBI and no homers;
Troy Glaus is 3-for-10 off Carlos Zambrano with 2 homers and 5 RBI;
Brian McCann is 7-for-12 off Zambrano with 4 driven in.
Padres @ Diamondbacks (-180) with Total of 7.5
Jon Garland (now on the Padres) is 2-1 against the D'backs, but has an ERA of 7.04 - yikes;
Everth Cabrera and Nick Hundley are both batting over .400 against Dan Haren;
Stephen Drew is 3-for-6 off Garland with a homer;
Miguel Montero is 2-for-4 off Garland, also with a homer.
Giants (-130) @ Astros with Total of 7
Tim Lincecum is 2-0 with a 1.67 ERA against the banged up Astros in his career;
Mark DeRosa is a 12-for-23 lifetime hitter off Oswalt with 1 home run and 3 RBI.