MLB Friday best bets: Dodgers to regain series lead in San Diego
Thanks to Thursday's postponement of Game 2 between the Cleveland Guardians and New York Yankees, we have three games to look forward to Friday.
Let's take a look at the side and player prop I see the most value in.
Dodgers (-125) @ Padres (+105)
The Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres split the first two games of the series, leaving L.A. with a 5-3 win each.
I like the Dodgers' chances of responding with a victory in Game 3. While Blake Snell has pitched very well of late, the Dodgers are a vastly different animal than almost any other team.
Primarily a fastball pitcher, Snell doesn't profile well against the Dodgers. Trea Turner, Freddie Freeman, Mookie Betts, Will Smith, and Max Muncy all posted wOBAs of .350 or higher against four-seamers this season. Slowing them down is going to be difficult for someone who throws that pitch nearly 56% of the time.
Snell has also gone through his share of struggles against this Dodgers lineup. He allowed a .368 xwOBA through 188 career plate appearances against players on this roster. That's quite high.
I think the Dodgers, who ranked second in ISO and fourth in wOBA against lefties since Aug. 1, will cause all kinds of headaches for Snell.
Tony Gonsolin's hardly a household name, but I like his chances of slowing down this Padres attack. He quietly owns a solid 3.14 FIP over the past month of work and held the Padres to just one run through nearly 13 innings during the regular season.
Gonsolin struck out 14 batters while allowing only seven hits and two walks during that time. He pitched very well.
If he can give the Dodgers five or six solid innings in this game, they should be well on their way to victory with how dangerous their offense is.
Look for the Dodgers to regain their series lead.
Bet: Dodgers (-125)
Aaron Judge over 1.5 total bases (+100)
Julio Rodriguez came through for us with a double in his final at-bat, hitting over 1.5 total bases at a juicy +145 to keep our perfect playoff prop record intact.
Today, we're backing the best hitter in baseball, Aaron Judge, as we look to keep the streak alive.
Shane Bieber is a fantastic pitcher, but Judge's hitting profile is a perfect match. Fastballs and sliders are Bieber's two most frequent pitches.
Against the fastball, Judge posted a .504 wOBA, .801 SLG%, and a hard-hit rate of just under 70%. His run value was plus-26, the second-highest of any hitter versus any pitch during the regular season.
The only higher run value posted is plus-29 against the slider by ... you guessed it: Judge. The impending AL MVP posted a .498 wOBA and .763 SLG% against that pitch.
That's right: Judge recorded the two highest values of any hitter against any pitch.
In a smash matchup - based on pitch arsenals, not pitcher caliber - all we need is one good swing from the most dominant hitter in the sport. At +100, I'm happy to take my chances we get it.
Todd Cordell is a sports betting writer at theScore. Be sure to follow him on Twitter @ToddCordell.