The Miami Marlins flopped in last night's season opener, but the club looks to rebound with today's matchup with the Cincinnati Reds. FInd out why we think that the best MLB betting value lies with the Marlins tonight.
10* graded free MLB pick on the Miami
Marlins as they take on the Cincinnati Reds set to start at 4:05 PM ET. Opening
night at the new Marlins stadium and for the new team was certainly an ‘egg
laying’ event. Unheralded Cardinals starter, Kyle Loshe, who was pitching last
night so that Chris Carpenter would get the home opener next week, took a
no-hitter into the seventh inning.
There was plenty of
revelry before Josh Johnson stepped on the mound. Fireworks. A jet flyover. A
ceremonial closing of the retractable roof. An appearance by boxing legend
Muhammad Ali, who also paid a pregame visit to the Marlins’ clubhouse.
The hype of a new stadium and
Opening Night can get even a professional team completely over charged and then
once the first pitch is thrown, the air comes completely out of the sales. I
believe that is what occurred last night for the Marlins.
Cincinnati now has to deal with
the home opener hype that includes immense pressure on Joey Votto. He agreed to
the largest guaranteed contract in MLB history with a 10-year $225 million
contract extension through 2023 that includes a club option for the 2024
season.
2011 Team Rankings and Stats
The Reds ranked seventh scoring
735 runs, 14th with a .256 team batting average, ninth with a .326
on-base-percentage, and 12th with a .408 slugging percentage. Pitching was a
problem in 2011 as the Reds ranked 20th with a 4.16 ERA, 11 th with 90 quality
starts, 20th with a 1.33 WHIP, and 14th with a .255 opponent batting average.
The bullpen struggled mightily at times and overall the staff did not throw
enough first pitch strikes and allowed far too many walks as evident by their
weak WHIP result.
With all of the change in the Miami Marlins
personnel, it is not meaningful to even list the 2011 stats. The starting
lineup in 2012 will have to produce at a much higher and more consistent level.
Briefly, this is the team, the Philadelphia Phillies and the rest of the
National League should start fearing. They have the combinations in the
starting lineup and the lefty-righty matchups that have the potential to win a
ton of games. They, of course, still need to execute that scheme on the field
of play and I think they will.
The Simulator Projections and
Mark Buehrle
The simulator shows a high
probability that the Marlins will rebound well with this first road game of the
season, and value can be found by adding them to your MLB picks this afternoon. Buehrle gets the nod here and he is a solid 24-12 making 12.9 units
per one unit wagered using the money line after a team loss over the last two
seasons. His ability to be a ‘stopper’ will not only get the Marlins a win
today, but will also save them from extended losing streaks during the course
of the 162-game season. Take the Marlins.