MLB Underdog of the Day (Fade the Guardians Lineup Against Lefties)
By Josh Yourish
It is a bit of a lighter slate in the MLB today. Like an appetizer for the main course of some great weekend baseball. Important series in the playoff race will take place over Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, but one massively important series begins tonight.
The Seattle Mariners and Cleveland Guardians are both defending their playoff spots and holding off teams just a few games back. Seattle currently occupies the final American League Wild Card spot and Cleveland is four games ahead of Chicago and Minnesota for the AL Central lead. One slip up and either team could be on the outside looking in.
You can find odds for this crucial game in the AL playoff picture at WynnBET Sportsbook.
Best MLB Underdog Pick Today
The Mariners are home underdogs because of their starting pitcher, Marco Gonzales. However, Gonzales might be their biggest advantage tonight. Triston McKenzie goes for Cleveland and is the superior starter with a 3.11 ERA in 22 starts through his age 24 season.
Gonzales has a 4.08 ERA, his worst in about five years. His fielding independent pitching of 5.08 indicates that his season might be even worse than it seems. Yet, all that matters in this particular game is the hand he throws the ball with. Gonzales is a lefty and that is enough to give the Guardians lineup problems.
Cleveland has a .643 OPS against left-handed pitching this season compared to a .721 against right-handers. Their slugging drops from .401 to .342 and one of the highest batting average teams in the league hits only .313. Nearly all of their important hitters from Jose Ramierez to Andres Gimenez to Steven Kwan see a drop in OPS against lefties.
The Guardians have been playing good baseball and the Mariners just split with Washington, but with a lefty on the mound it is advantage Seattle even as a home underdog.
Pick: Mariners ML +102
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