Top MLB Betting Picks of the Week (July 11th, 2022)

By Hank Blaine • July 11, 2022

We could see some strange results around Major League Baseball this week as pretty much every player in the league is looking forward to a bit of rest with next week’s 2022 MLB All-Star break upcoming. Speaking of the All-Star Game, Angels dual-threat Shohei Ohtani was elected to the American League All-Star team as a pitcher and hitter for the second consecutive season. Ohtani’s lone pitching matchup this week is one of our games to watch. Check back for MLB odds.

Top MLB Betting Picks of the Week (July 11th, 2022)

New MLB Power Rankings for the Week of July 11th ????

1️⃣ New York Yankees (61-25) #RepBX
2️⃣ Houston Astros (56-29) #LevelUp
3️⃣ Los Angeles Dodgers (56-29) #AlwaysLA
4️⃣ New York Mets (53-33) #LGM
5️⃣ Atlanta Braves (52-35) #ForTheA pic.twitter.com/r4PMvq7kJP
— Audacy Sports (@AudacySports) July 11, 2022

Chicago White Sox vs. Cleveland Guardians

When: Tuesday, July 12, 2022, 7:05 PM ET
Where: Citizens Bank Park, Philadelphia, PA
TV: NBCSCH, Bally Sports Great Lakes, MLBN (out-of-market only)
Radio: WMVP 1000 AM (White Sox) / WTAM 1100 (Guardians)
MLB Betting Odds: TBA

This is the lone matinee of Tuesday with a 1:10 p.m. ET first pitch and the first game of a doubleheader. Cleveland has won four of the five meetings between the clubs this season including a three-game series sweep in late April. The White Sox lead the series all-time, 1,110 to 1,103.

The White Sox continue to be one of the most disappointing teams in the majors and there’s some talk that there is no leadership in the locker room. There’s no chance, though, that owner Jerry Reinsdorf will fire good friend and Hall of Fame manager Tony La Russa even though he probably should.

Good pitching matchup Tuesday between All-Star snub Dylan Cease of the White Sox and former AL Cy Young winner Shane Bieber of the Guardians. Cease (7-4, 2.45 ERA, 133 Ks) Cease yielded one run over six innings las Thursday in a loss to the Tigers. Cease finished with eight strikeouts and only handed out three free passes. He induced 16 swinging strikes and finished with a 32 percent CSW (called strikes plus whiffs). A fourth-inning solo homer off the bat of Javier Báez accounted for all of the damage against him in this one. The 26-year-old righty has allowed just three runs on 28 hits with a 62/24 K/BB ratio across 45 1/3 innings over his last eight starts since May 29.

Cease’s 133 strikeouts rank third in baseball, behind All-Stars Shane McClanahan (Rays) and Corbin Burnes (Brewers). His 13 strikeouts per nine innings ranked first in the major leagues. There’s still a chance Cease is named an All-Star as an injury replacement. But if he stays on his current fifth-day schedule, he’d be ineligible to pitch in the game.

Tim Anderson is the only White Sox player selected to the All-Star team. He’s the Sox’s first starting All-Star shortstop since Luis Aparicio in 1970.

Cleveland’s Bieber (3-5, 3.44 ERA) was tagged for five runs in 5 2/3 innings by Detroit last Wednesday. Bieber got 16 missed swings and six strikeouts, but the Tigers were able to string their singles together; they had three in a two-run second and three (plus a walk) in the three-run fifth. Bieber allowed just one other hit (also a single) over the rest of the outing. The loss leaves him 0-2 over his last six starts, even though the Guardians won the other four games.

MLB Betting Pick: Guardians

Houston Astros vs. Los Angeles Angels

When: Wednesday, July 13th, 2022. 9:38pm ET.
Where: Angel Stadium of Anaheim, Anaheim, CA
TV: ATT SportsNet-SW, Bally Sports West
Radio: KBME 790 AM (Astros) / KLAA 830 (Angels)
MLB Betting Odds: TBA

The late game on Wednesday with a 9:38 PM ET first pitch and it will be Shohei Ohtani’s final time on the mound in the first half. Ohtani (8-4, 2.44 ERA) allowed only an unearned run over seven innings and knocked in two runs to lead the Angels past the Marlins 5-2 last Wednesday. Ohtani fanned 10.

In his last five pitching starts, Shohei Ohtani is 5-0 with a 0.27 ERA (33.2 IP – 1 ER) and 46 strikeouts and has not allowed an earned run in his last 28.2 innings. In that same span (since June 9), he is batting .311 (28/90) with four doubles, one triple, eight HR, 22 RBI, 15 BB and a 1.046 OPS.

Mike Trout (outfield) and Ohtani (DH) have been named as starters for the American League at the 2022 All-Star Game. The selection is Trout’s 10th career All-Star nod and ninth straight as a starter. Ohtani is the first player to win the fan election at DH in consecutive seasons since Nelson Cruz in 2014-15.

Houston is without its best offensive player in outfielder/DH Yordan Alvarez, who has been placed on the injured list with a hand issue. He leads the Astros in hits (82), batting average (.306), home runs (26), RBIs (60), on-base percentage (.405), slugging percentage (.653) and OPS (1.058).

“Yordan has been suffering with the injury for a couple weeks and it’s gotten worse,” Astros manager Dusty Baker told reporters. “We decided that hey, the only way to get this well is to try to use these (series) before the All-Star break to coincide with the 10 that he has to be on the IL.”

Scheduled on the mound Wednesday is Cristian Javier (6-4, 3.01). Javier was knocked around for five runs on four hits over five innings in last Wednesday’s 7-4 loss to the Royals. Four of the five runs on his line scored via long balls by Whit Merrifield, Hunter Dozier (a two-run shot) and Emmanuel Rivera, with those happening over the first two innings. Javier would complete his five innings of work having struck out seven and walked three.

The start prior to that, Javier struck out a career-high 14 batters and allowed one hit in seven innings to lead the Astros to an 8-1 win over the Angels at Minute Maid Park.

MLB Betting Pick: Angels

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Top MLB Betting Picks of the Week (July 11th, 2022)