Top MLB Betting Picks of the Week – April 1st, 2024

As we enter the first full week of the 2024 MLB regular season, there are four teams unbeaten in the Yankees, Tigers, Pirates and Brewers – all fairly big surprises. I do expect each to lose for the first time by early this week, though. Here’s a look at two intriguing matchups.

Top MLB Betting Picks of the Week (April 1st, 2024)

The first MLB power rankings of the season! pic.twitter.com/N710d8leAf

— Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) April 2, 2024

New York Yankees vs. Arizona Diamondbacks

• When: Monday, April 1, 2024, 9:40 PM ET
• Where: Chase Field, Phoenix, AZ
• TV: YES, ARID
• Radio: WFAN 101.9 FM (Yankees) // KMVP-FM 98.7 (Diamondbacks)
• Live Stream: MLB.tv
• MLB Betting Odds: Yankees (-127) // Diamondbacks (+109)

The offseason trade the Yankees made for Padres All-Star outfielder Juan Soto is looking brilliant so far as he’s the biggest reason the Bombers are unbeaten and Soto has jumped into the favored role for AL MVP. In Sunday’s 4-3 win in Houston to stunningly sweep the Astros, Soto had three hits, capped by an RBI single with two outs in the ninth inning.

Soto hit .529 (9 for 17) with four RBI in his first games with the Yankees after his trade from San Diego, helping New York to its first 4-0 start since 2003 and just its fourth since 1950. Soto became the first Yankees player in the expansion era (since 1961) to post a go-ahead RBI in three of his first four games with the club.

“You feel good when he’s up there,” said teammate Alex Verdugo, who sealed the victory with a sliding catch in the home half of the ninth. “He’s really special. It doesn’t matter; lefty, righty, the way he controls the zone, knows himself and doesn’t let the moment get too big.”

The Yankees became just the seventh team in the Modern Era (since 1900) to start a season sweeping an opponent on the road in a series of at least four games, joining the 2021 Houston Astros, 1994 Atlanta Braves, 1992 Texas Rangers, 1981 Oakland Athletics, 1906 Boston Beaneaters and 1903 Pittsburgh Pirates. New York trailed in each of the first three games in Houston.

The Yanks remain without leadoff hitter DJ LeMahieu as he has been diagnosed with a non-displaced fracture of his right foot that could keep the veteran third baseman out of action for several more weeks, Yankees manager Aaron Boone said over the weekend. LeMahieu underwent a second MRI on Friday in Tampa, Fla., that revealed the fracture on the top of his foot, sustained when he fouled off a ball on March 16. An initial MRI taken following the injury proved inconclusive due to swelling.

There’s a very realistic chance the Bombers do lose Monday because they are starting righty Luis Gil, who didn’t pitch in the majors last year as he spent the entire season on the 60-day injured list recovering from right elbow surgery. In five (three starts) this spring, Gil went 2-0 with a 2.87 ERA (15.2IP, 7H, 5ER, 6BB, 23K, 3HR). His 23 strikeouts were tied for the seventh-most in the Grapefruit League. Gil will face a National League team for the first time in his career.

Arizona took three of four to open the season at home vs. a bad Colorado team. The D-backs scored two runs in the first inning in each of the series’ first three games, and on Sunday added a three-run opening frame. In doing so, they became just the second team in history to score two or more runs in the first inning in the first four games of the season.

The Snakes go with righty Ryne Nelson on the mound here. Last year, he went 7-8 with a 5.53 ERA (85 ER in 138.1 IP) over 27 starts with Arizona and made three postseason appearances out of the bullpen, going 0-0 with a 5.68 ERA (4 ER in 6.1 IP, 7 K).

MLB Betting Pick: Under 10 Runs

San Francisco Giants vs. Los Angeles Dodgers

• When: Tuesday, April 2, 2023, 10:10 PM ET
• Where: Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles, CA
• TV: NBCSBA, SNLA, TBS
• Radio: KNBR 104.5 FM (Giants) // KTNQ 1020 AM (Dodgers)
• Live Stream: MLB.tv
• MLB Betting Odds: TBA

National TV game on TBS and a matchup of NL Cy Young contenders in the Giants’ Logan Webb and Dodgers’ Tyler Glasnow. San Francisco split four games in San Diego to open the season. Webb didn’t factor into the decision during Thursday’s loss, He struck out five over six innings and gave up two runs on five hits and two walks.

The 2023 NL Cy Young runner-up picked up where he left off last season, delivering a quality start during his first outing of the 2024 campaign. Webb held the Padres scoreless up until the fifth frame, when he allowed both his runs. Webb could face issues picking up wins again this season due to a lack of run support after posting an 11-13 record last year. He ranked fourth among qualified National League pitchers in both ERA (3.25) and FIP (3.16) in 2023, and his 1.29 walks per nine innings was second to none. Moreover, his 62.1% groundball rate was the highest in either league.

“We play a lot of low-scoring games here. So if we can manufacture a run, or even on the pitching side, if you’ve got second and third with no outs, find a way out or limit it to one run. There’s little things that work here,” Webb said.

Since the beginning of the 2021 campaign, Webb has a 3.07 ERA and a 3.00 FIP, and his signature sinker-changeup combination has been responsible for a 59.9% groundball rate.

The Dodgers have already played six games (4-2) as they and the Padres opened the season earlier than anyone with a two-game set in Seoul, South Korea. LA then took three of four over the weekend at home against St. Louis, rallying from a four-run deficit on Sunday night in a 5-4 win on an eighth-inning two-run shot from Max Muncy.

The last time the Dodgers won a game after trailing by two or more runs in the eighth inning or later was on July 25, 2023, against the Blue Jays. They did it three times all of last season. With the firepower throughout this lineup, no lead will be safe for opposing pitching staffs this season. Through six games, the Dodgers have shown just that.

Glasnow is 1-0 with a 2.45 ERA on the season. He earned the win Thursday against St. Louis. He allowed one run on two hits and a walk over six innings while striking out five. Paul Goldschmidt’s solo home run in the fourth inning was the lone blemish on Glasnow’s line Thursday and was one of just two hits allowed by the right-hander. Glasnow needed just 81 pitches to make it through six innings as he picked up his first win with the Dodgers after taking a no-decision in LA’s opener in South Korea. The 30-year-old has allowed just two runs through 11 innings after going 10-7 with a 3.53 ERA and 162 strikeouts in 21 starts with Tampa Bay last year.

MLB Betting Pick: Dodgers

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