Today’s MLB slate features a great slate of games. Here are three of our top MLB picks & predictions for Thursday, June 19th.
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Thursday’s Best MLB Bets
(Odds courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook)
Los Angeles Angels (+217) at New York Yankees (-273) | O/U 9.0 (-119/-102)
The Yankees are making the American League East race very interesting as they've hit a slump. They've dropped six straight and are only 1.5 games up on the Rays. Carlos Rodon is a strong candidate to end this losing streak, as he's having his best season in pinstripes with a 3.05 ERA and a 0.99 WHIP.
When he is on, Rodon can disguise a pitch as starting at the heart of the plate before it falls out of the strike zone. That's how he's able to generate a whiff rate in the 90th percentile and a strikeout rate in the 89th percentile. The last time Rodon faced the Angels back on May 27th, he shut them down by throwing seven scoreless innings and striking out 10. This could be the game in which the Yankees break out of their slump.
Pick: Yankees -1.5 (-132)
Philadelphia Phillies (-187) at Miami Marlins (+152) | O/U 7.5 (-112/-108)
Cristopher Sanchez has been an important piece of this Phillies rotation as he comes in with a 3.10 ERA. He’s coming off his second straight start of seven innings where he allowed just two earned runs as Philadelphia got the win against the Blue Jays.
Sanchez is phenomenal at getting the swings and misses, as his whiff rate is in the 78th percentile and his strikeout rate is in the 75th percentile. He's not an overpowering pitcher with just a sinker, slider and change-up. Sanchez’s change-up is tough to hit, as opposing batters have a .198 weighted on-base average.
Sanchez gets the Marlins today, who are 18th in batting average against lefties. They struggle to make good contact as they are 21st in barrel rate.
Pick: Phillies -1.5 (-102)
New York Mets (+108) at Atlanta Braves (-131) | O/U 8.5 (-110/-110)
It's been a tough season for Spencer Strider as he tries to regain his elite form. He has noticeably lost velocity on his fastball, and his breaking ball lacks the same bite. It's allowed batters to make exceptional contact with his pitches as his 11.8% barrel rate is in the 11th percentile, and his 92.6 average exit velocity is in the first percentile.
Strider finally looked like his old dominant self, where he went six scoreless innings, allowed three hits and struck out 13 in his last start. That was, however, at home against Colorado's bottom-tier offense and a team on pace for the worst record in MLB history.
The Braves ace gets a more difficult matchup against the Mets today, who are second in exit velocity (90.8) and third in barrel rate (10.5%). You need to keep fading him until he proves he can pitch well against a formidable offense.
Pick: Mets Moneyline (+108)
