Los Angeles Dodgers (-150) vs Arizona Diamondbacks (+130)

Walker Buehler (5-1, 4.03 ERA) vs Robbie Ray (4-2, 3.59 ERA)

Game Total – 8.5 Runs

Dodgers find themselves on the road favorites to open the series against the Diamondbacks as they send right-hander Walker Buehler to the mound. Buehler was roughed up in his last start, allowing five runs on seven hits over five innings to the Mets. He seemed to be turning his season around however prior to that start as he owned a 2.28 ERA over the previous seven starts. This will be his second start of the season against the Diamondbacks as they got to him for five runs on five hits over three innings in his season debut back in March. As a whole the DBacks rank towards the middle of the back in offense against right-handed pitching, sitting 17th in wOBA and 14th in ISO.

The lineup for the Dodgers is an interesting one tonight as they will be without their top bat in Cody Bellinger who is getting the night off. The Dodgers offense however does mash against left-handed pitching as they rank eighth in wOBA and second in wRC. Some bats that have strong splits against southpaws in their lineup tonight are Kiké Hernández , Justin Turner , David Freese and Chris Taylor . Hernandez is 8-for-31 with three home runs off DBacks starter Robbie Ray . Chris Taylor is 8-for-23 (.348) with two doubles and both should offer solid value.

The Diamondbacks will start southpaw Robbie Ray . Ray allowed three runs on three hits while walking five and striking out nine over five innings against the Dodgers in his season debut. Strikeout upside is the name of the game with Ray and the Dodgers bottom half of their lineup is full of left-handed bats that he should have an edge over.  Control issues are the big thing with Ray as he rarely goes deep into games due to high pitch counts so while the strikeouts are nice he is also a risk to pay up for if he isn’t completely lights out that evening.

The DBacks certainly have some dangerous bats in their lineup with Eduardo Escobar and a returning David Peralta leading the way. Arizona ranks 10th in the majors in home runs as they already have four players in double figures with David Peralta ranking fifth on the team in homers with seven having spent time on the DL which likely kept him from joining the ranks. Shortstop Ketel Marte has been the biggest surprise at the plate this season as his 14 home runs is tied for his career high which he set last year over 153 games.

 

Houston Astros (-145) vs Seattle Mariners (+125)

Corbin Martin (1-1, 5.51 ERA) vs Wade LeBlanc (2-2, 6.99 ERA)

Game Total – 9.5 Runs

Let’s talk about offense shall we? The Astros lineup is a shell of what it should be as the team is without George Springer , Jose Altuve and Carlos Correa all due to injury. They are also sitting Michael Brantley tonight leaving really just Alex Bregman as the lone impact bat in the lineup. Now, the equalizer to the Astros sending out a lineup that would have fans checking their program is that the Mariners are pitching lefty Wade LeBlanc tonight. LeBlanc finished May allowed 14 runs on 18 hits over 12.1 innings. I think there is plenty of upside in this Astros lineup tonight even if it means your stack looks something like Jake Marisnick Myles Straw and Robinson Chirinos . Marisnick by the way is 5-for-9 with a home run off LeBlanc and this season he is hitting .389 with an OPS of 1.157 against southpaws.

For the Mariners they have a bunch of bats that should be able to beat up on Houston righty Corbin Martin but the Seattle lineup has largely underachieved since the beginning of the season. That being said, Martin has found little success over his four major league starts, allowing 10 runs on 19 hits over 16.1 innings. Right-handed bats have hammered him to the tune of a .333 average with five home runs and an OPS of 1.224. Though slumping the power bats of Mitch Haniger , Edwin Encarnación , Daniel Vogelbach and Kyle Seager can all do some serious damage.  I think this one should be a popular game to stack from the hitter’s side of things.

 

Philadelphia Phillies (-140) vs San Diego Padres (+125)

Aaron Nola (6-0, 4.18 ERA) vs Eric Lauer (4-4, 4.45 ERA)

Game Total – 7.5 Runs

Aaron Nola is going to be the chalk pitcher on tonight’s slate in my opinion as he has the best matchup. The question here is what version of Aaron Nola is going to show up to the mound this evening. After a rough start to the season things have turned around for the 2018 Cy Young candidate as he is 4-0 with a 2.50 ERA while striking out 46 over 39.2 innings. That stretch spans his last seven starts. We love Nola tonight because the Padres have a 27-percent strikeout rate against RHP over the last 30 days and rank towards the middle of the pack in wOBA and ISO. It’s a small slate and if Nola pitches a gem and he isn’t in your lineup you will be below the cash line.

As for the Phillies lineup they are sitting 12th in wOBA against left-handed pitching over the last month. The San Diego ballpark may be a bit of an equalizer but guys like Andrew McCutchen , Jean Segura , Rhys Hoskins , J.T. Realmuto and César Hernández all handle the bat really well against southpaws. There is then of course Bryce Harper who is always dangerous even if he is slumping this season in his first year with the Phillies. If I had to pick player to roster I would go with McCutchen and Hoskins in a two-man stack.

For the Padres they are sending southpaw Eric Lauer to the mound. With the exception of one start during the month of May, which he was shelled for eight earned runs over three innings of work, Lauer had himself a solid stretch of starts in which he only allowed more than two earned runs just once. In those four May starts he allowed a total of five runs over 23 innings. He is not a pitcher I am looking to use tonight given the matchup but maybe he surprises some tonight given his recent form.

As for the Padres hitters I am largely fading here. If you want to be contrarian and hope that Franmil Reyes or Hunter Renfroe can take Nola deep that is certainly OK but the Padres offense is usually better suited to handle left-handed pitching given their power bats and this matchup against Nola, especially given the Vegas total of 7.5 runs doesn’t make me think the San Diego offense will be doing much other than heading to the bench after their at bats.