Ketel Marte

Marte is out of the lineup for Tuesday's game at Colorado.

Find year-round coverage of betting news and insights for all sports by visiting our Betting section and subscribing to push notifications.We have an exciting 13-game slate on the docket to begin the week. Let's waste no time in getting to our best bets.Diamondbacks (-185) @ Rockies (+155)The Diamondbacks opened the season with a four-game set against the Rockies and beat them into the ground, winning 32-15 on aggregate.I expect this game to be rather one-sided as well, particularly early on. Led by Ketel Marte and Christian Walker, the Diamondbacks mash left-handed pitching. They're hitting .319 with a .344 xwOBA and 81.1% contact rate, ranking third or higher in each category.Now they're drawing a struggling lefty - Kyle Freeland - in the most hitter-friendly environment MLB offers: Coors Field.Freeland has thrown as many called balls as strikes. He has an astronomically high barrel rate of 16.1% and sports an xwOBA above .500. You'd be hard-pressed to find a starter with worse numbers.The Diamondbacks lit up Freeland when they played earlier this season, generating 10 runs in fewer than three innings of work.I wouldn't expect that level of offense again, but it's possible given how well the Diamondbacks are hitting lefties and considering Freeland's struggles.Arizona should be able to plate at least a few runs over the first five innings. If that happens, they have a great chance of cashing in on an early lead with Zac Gallen on the mound.Gallen is one of the best starters in baseball, and only five teams own a worse xwOBA versus righties than the Rockies. It'll be very difficult for them to keep up offensively.Expect the Diamondbacks to get to Freeland early and often and earn a lead through five innings - likely by multiple runs.Odds: -125 (playable to -140)Blake Snell: Under 6.5 strikeouts Snell was a lethal strikeout pitcher last season. He piled up 7.3 strikeouts per start while throwing just under an average of 100 pitches.He didn't make any rehab starts after signing with the Giants and has only thrown in scrimmages and simulated games. He's expected to carry a pitch count in the ballpark of 70.Seven strikeouts is an awful lot to ask for someone who averaged that number throwing 25-30 more pitches than he'll get in this game.Even if Snell isn't rusty and hits his spots, this is a difficult matchup for him to hit his ceiling.The Nationals have struck out just over 19% of the time against left-handed pitchers, one of the lowest marks in the league. They posted a 17.6 K% against lefties last season, so it's not as if their results are unsustainable.With Snell on a pitch count against a disciplined offense, it'll be difficult for him to match the efficiency he produced last season.Odds: -125 (playable to -160)Mitch Keller: Over 5.5 strikeoutsKeller averaged 6.56 strikeouts per start in 2023 and exceeded 5.5 Ks over 60% of the time.He's 0-for-2 to start the season, but both of his starts were against teams outside the top 15 in strikeout rate.Keller still managed to post some encouraging numbers beneath the hood. He generated swinging strikes on more than 14% of his pitches, good for third among all of the day's projected starters.The Tigers have done a much better job at avoiding strikeouts thus far, but that likely has a lot to do with the level of competition faced. As far as right-handed starters go, the Tigers have faced Joe Boyle, Paul Blackburn, Adrian Houser, Erick Fedde, and Michael Soroka. That batch isn't exactly known for throwing strikes.Keller is a big step up in class. I expect him to put forth his best strikeout performance of the campaign while clearing this number for the first time of many.Odds: -125 (playable to -140)Todd Cordell is a sports betting writer at theScore. You can follow him on X at @ToddCordell.Copyright © 2024 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Marte went 2-for-4 with a leadoff home run and an RBI double in Saturday's 9-8 loss to Atlanta.