The pressure is squarely placed on the Nationals offense with their young superstar on the hill.

New York Mets at Washington Nationals

New York has won two of its last three games, including a 5-3 victory on Friday night.  The Mets are 25-12 in their last 37 contests dating back to May 22, which is the second-best mark in the majors over that span (Boston).  Overall, the Mets are 17-23 (-410) on the road, but they have won two of three games away from Citi Field.  New York has scored at least one run in the first inning in its last four games, producing a 37-14 mark when scoring first.  The offense has been led by 3B David Wright’s NL-leading 63 RBI, which ranks third in the majors.  The Mets have not dropped a season series to the Nationals/Expos franchise since 2003.

Continue reading “Saturday MLB on FOX Betting Preview – Mets at Nationals”

The Braves veteran right-hander will be overshadowed by all the hype of the opposing pitcher, but I have a feeling the final spotlight will be placed on him.

Washington Nationals at Atlanta Braves

Continue reading “ESPN2 Monday Night Baseball Betting Preview – Nationals at Braves”

The Nationals seek a three-game interleague sweep of the lowly Royals with their rookie phenom on the mound.

Kansas City Royals at Washington Nationals

Kansas City dropped its fifth game in a row on Tuesday night, falling 5-4 to the Washington Nationals in the nation’s capitol.  The current losing streak is the club’s longest under current manager Ned Yost.  The Royals are now 5-9 during interleague play this year, but are still 46-40 over the last five seasons against the National League.  OF Jose Guillen has been the lone bright spot during the team’s recent struggles, compiling a career-long 17-game hitting streak.  Being a big-sized road underdog of +225 to +250 is nothing new to the small town Royals, as the lines maker has placed them in this role for the fourth time already this season (2-1, +380).

Continue reading “Wednesday MLB Daytime Betting Preview – Royals at Nationals”

The third chapter of the truly captivating Stephen Strasburg story will be written on Friday when he starts at home against Jake Peavy and the Chicago White Sox. Strasburg entered the league as perhaps the most hyped pitcher ever to debt thanks to the age of the internet. He’s also one of the rare prospects who has not only lived up to the dizzying expectations, but has probably exceeded them. His first start was a masterpiece like many starters in the league will never throw. The second wasn’t quite as smooth, but it was still very impressive and well above average.

Continue reading “Handicapping Stephen Strasburg’s Future Starts”

You could say that Stephen Strasburg had the best major league debut of any pitcher in the history of the MLB. There were only two pitchers, J.R. Richards (in 1971) and Karl Spooner (in 1954), who recorded more strikeouts in their debut than Strasburg did Tuesday. Strasburg had 14, Richards and Spooner 15 each.

Continue reading “Stephen Strasburg Prop Betting Picks”

Stephen Strasburg is finally poised to make his major league debut. He made his last minor league appearance on Thursday afternoon, and barring anything unforeseen he is scheduled to join the Nationals for his first start on June 8 at home against the Pirates. It’s not an exaggeration to say that Strasburg is the most eagerly anticipated debuting pitcher in league history. Other pitchers have perhaps been as hyped, and have certainly been as talented, but the age of the internet has whipped up more of a frenzy around this one than was possible before. Strasburg’s every move has been followed since well before he was drafted, and highlights of all his minor league starts have been widely available for everyone to see. As we get ready for the arrival of the next great thing here are eight random things that are on my mind about the pitcher and the situation surrounding him:

Continue reading “Handicapping Stephen Strasburg’s Debut”

Sunday MLB Handicapper Report  (Complete)

Baltimore Orioles

  • The Orioles and Nationals meet in the rubber game of their three-game series.  With a win, Baltimore would capture its first road series victory since 9/11-9/13/09 at New York.
  • Baltimore is 5-8 in daytime games this season (-80).  The Orioles are also just 4-9 against left-handed starters (-320).
  • SP Kevin Millwood has a 3.22 ERA in three afternoon starts this season.  Since the start of 2009, Millwood has a 2.95 ERA in 13 daytime starts.  At night since the start of the ’09 season, the right-hander has a 4.01 ERA.
  • Millwood has received just 27 runs of support in his nine starts and the Orioles have scored just 16 runs while he is in the game (4-5 O/U).

Continue reading “Sunday MLB Handicapper Report”

I’m a big Pudge Rodriguez guy – he’s my favorite non-pitcher of all time, I think. That being said, I was really surprised by the news that he will be joining the Nationals. He has reportedly signed a two year, $6 million contract. I’m surprised that at this time in his career he’d be interested in playing in such a hopeless situation. Or at least that’s what I thought until I considered it more and came up with one big consideration in their favor – Stephen Strasburg. Pudge gets to spend likely his last two years in the league catching for the most exciting prospect in baseball in a long, long time. The Nats get to be sure that their prize star is well-handled, and they get to benefit from the veteran leadership and instant credibility he brings to the table.

Continue reading “Quick Tuesday Notes”

This Tim Floyd situation is going to get uglier and uglier. His resignation, and the speed and seeming joy with which the athletic department at USC took it, is a clear indicator of his guilt in the alleged cash-spreading incident, and it’s not hard to imagine him being guilty of more, either. The NCAA combined their investigation into the basketball team with their one into Reggie Bush and the football team et al . That would suggest that they are taking it pretty seriously, and this just adds fuel to their efforts. It will be very interesting to see what happens here. It could end very badly – loss of scholarships or post-season eligibility or the like. This really makes you wonder if maybe Pete Carroll will find the next NFL offer too good to refuse. If he does have some blood on his hands then he’d be much better off following the example of John Calipari – get out ahead of the scandal – than that of Tim Floyd.

Continue reading “Scandal, Intrigue, And More”

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