Dodgers Should Roll Diamondbacks

Diamondbacks vs. Dodgers, 4:10 ET

Can you believe that we are already at the end of the first series of the season? Baseball is both long and quick at the exact same time. Before you know it, it will be October and we will be focused in on who will be making a run at the World Series trophy. Let’s see what we can cook up in the games today.

I mentioned that I wouldn’t go back to this series if I got the game wrong on Friday. Guess what, we got the game correct and I took down a +160 victory early in the season with Merrill Kelly. Now I think we have another chance to get a win in this series as the Diamondbacks close out their set against the Dodgers. Zach Davies is taking the bump for Arizona and he is exactly what you would think of a fourth rotation guy. He will give you some good outings, and he will give you some crummy ones, but he can eat up innings and he can win some games for you. Davies somehow had 27 starts for the Diamondbacks last season and only ended up with a 2-5 record. That’s a ton of no decision starts for one guy. He was not very good on the road last season, posting a 4.77 ERA and allowing 15 of his 21 home runs as a visiting pitcher. The Dodgers hit four dingers off of him alone last season. At Dodger Stadium, he was rocked in both starts. He allowed six earned runs on 12 hits over 7 innings during those two starts.

For all of the big names that the Dodgers have on the squad, this pitching acquisition might be the one that intrigues me the most. Noah Syndergaard hasn’t been very good for a few years now, but last season he was in the World Series after a midseason trade sent him from the Los Angeles Angels to Philadelphia. Now he is with the other Los Angeles team and looking to fill gaps or remain in the rotation while their normal starters get back to full health. Something about Los Angeles connected with Syndergaard last season – in nine starts (eight at the Angles home park, and one at Dodgers stadium) he was able to post just 17 earned runs over 53.1 innings. I actually have hope for him as I think that Mark Prior, the Dodgers pitching coach, could help get Syndergaard back to a more reliable starter. I don’t ever expect the hard thrower he once was, but he could be more of a pitcher… if that makes sense. Evan Longoria is the only Diamondback with much experience against Syndergaard and he is just 3-for-12 in his career.

The juice on the moneyline is too high in this one to take the Dodgers, but I think they should win this game comfortably. I’ll take the Dodgers run line at +115.

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