A big reason the Seattle Mariners ended the longest active playoff drought in MLB last year was because the team didn’t have a single starting pitcher miss a turn the entire season. That’s very rare – and already has been proven a fluke as the Mariners have put lefty Robbie Ray, the 2021 AL Cy Young Award winner with Toronto, on the 15-day injured list with a left flexor strain following a poor first outing vs. Cleveland. Here’s a look at two intriguing early-week matchups around the majors. Check back for MLB odds.

Top MLB Betting Picks of the Week (April 3rd, 2023)

MLB Power Rankings: Yankees, Rangers, Cardinals, more make the most of 2023 opening weekend https://t.co/xjsTnaYNCu

— CBS Sports MLB (@CBSSportsMLB) April 3, 2023

Philadelphia Phillies vs. New York Mets

• When: Monday, April 3rd, 2023, 1:05 PM ET
• Where: Yankee Stadium, Bronx, NY
• TV: YES, MLBN
• Radio: WIP-FM 94.1 (Phillies) // WFAN 101.9 FM (Yankees)
• Live Stream: MLB.tv
• MLB Betting Odds: TBA

It’s the 2022 National League champion against the ’22 American League runner-up. Could reigning AL MVP Aaron Judge hit 60 homers again? That’s very unlikely, but he does have two through three games after hitting one Sunday in a rout of the Giants. Giancarlo Stanton hit a two-run homer Sunday, a monster, 485-foot blast to center off Ross Stripling. Stanton went without a homer in 45 at-bats during a very quiet Grapefruit League season, but he has two in three regular season games.

It’s lefty Nestor Cortes scheduled for the start here for New York. The 28-year-old will make the start on extended six days’ rest after making his final spring training appearance in last Tuesday’s exhibition game at Washington, taking the loss after allowing one run over four innings.

Last year, Cortes went 12-4 with a 2.44 ERA and 163K in 28 starts for the Yankees. He made 10 starts with 6.0-or-more innings pitched and 1R-or-fewer allowed. His 2.44 ERA was the third-lowest by a Yankees pitcher in a single season in the Divisional Era since 1969 (min. 25 games started), trailing only Ron Guidry’s 1.74 ERA in 1978 and Steve Jack Kline’s 2.40 ERA in 1972.

Cortes has made one career appearance against the Phillies, allowing 1ER over 3.2 innings in relief on 6/12/21 at Citizens Bank Park. Cortes has posted a 2.25 ERA (8.0IP, 2ER) and 10K in three appearances (one start) against NL East opponents in his career.

It’s new addition and former New York Met Taijuan Walker for the Phillies. Walker went 12-5 with a 3.49 ERA (61 ER, 157.1 IP) and 132 strikeouts while allowing just 0.86 home runs per 9.0 innings pitched (15 HR) in 29 starts with the Mets last year. He was one of seven National League pitchers to throw more than 155.0 innings while posting a sub-3.50 ERA and allowing 15 home runs or fewer.

The Phillies wanted to save Walker for their series opener in Yankee Stadium Monday because of the Yankees’ right-handed-heavy lineup.

MLB Betting Pick: Yankees

Atlanta Braves vs. St. Louis Cardinals

• When: Tuesday, April 4th, 2023, 7:45 PM ET
• Where: Busch Stadium, St. Louis, MO
• TV: BSSO, BSMW
• Radio: 680 The Fan (Braves) // KMOX, 1120 AM (Cardinals)
• Live Stream: MLB.tv
• MLB Betting Odds: TBA

The Cardinals got a scare when free-agent All-Star catcher Willson Contreras injured his knee in the season opener and missed Saturday, but he was back in the starting lineup Sunday. St. Louis took two of three against AL contender Toronto. Nolan Gorman hit a pair of two-run homers Sunday and has two homers and six RBI in nine at-bats so far this season.

Brendan Donovan hit his first career leadoff HR on Sunday and became the first Cardinal to hit a leadoff HR this on the first pitch since Tommy Edman and ran his hitting streak to 11 games (14-43, .326) after he finished the 2022 season on an eight-game streak, currently the longest active in the National League.

The Braves won two of three to open the year in Washington. The Braves swept 13 total series last season and went the entire season without being swept, becoming just the sixth team since 1990 to go an entire season without losing every game in a series and the first team in a full season to do so since the 2004 Braves who won 96 games and an NL East crown.

Atlanta is scheduled to start young lefty Dylan Dodd on Tuesday. Dylan Dodd struggled in his final Grapefruit League start against the Red Sox, giving up three runs on eight hits over five-plus innings of work. Dodd came to this year’s Spring Training with just one full year of professional experience. But it was an impressive one. He posted a 3.36 ERA and produced a 26 percent strikeout rate while combining to make 26 starts for High-A Rome, Double-A Mississippi and Gwinnett last year.

He then had an outstanding spring as he battled Jared Shuster for the final spot in the Braves’ Opening Day rotation with a 2.00 ERA, 1.06 WHIP and a 20/4 K/BB ratio across 18 innings. Dodd also limited a powerful Dominican lineup to one hit before allowing five runs in the third inning of a World Baseball Classic exhibition game on March 8.

Lefty Steven Matz is scheduled for the Cards. The former New York Met and Blue Jay joined the Cardinals ahead of the 2022 season, but only made 15 appearances due to injuries. Matz dealt with shoulder and knee injuries in 2022, but is healthy now. The 31-year-old impressed throughout spring training and compiled a minuscule 1.53 ERA across four appearances and 17 2/3 innings pitched.

MLB Betting Pick: Cardinals

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READ MORE: Top MLB Betting Picks of the Week – April 10th, 2023