Hunter Greene

Who do you like better this year: Hunter Greene or Yu Darvish? Source

Find year-round coverage of betting news and insights for all sports by visiting our Betting section and subscribing to push notifications.It was another profitable night on the diamond as two of three best bets for Thursday's slate cashed in.We'll set our sights on a sweep with three more plays for Friday's busy card.Mets (+105) @ Reds (-125)The Mets are off to a 1-5 start, and the numbers indicate their record does them justice. They've looked miserable at the plate, ranking last in batting average, slugging, and xwOBA.Now they have to contend with Hunter Greene. Although his control is iffy at times, he's an elite strikeout pitcher with overpowering stuff. He is almost untouchable when he's on. That's probably not the kind of guy the Mets want to face while lacking confidence and struggling to make quality contact.On the flip side, the Reds are set up for success at the plate against Jose Quintana. The veteran lefty tossed more called balls than strikes in his opener while posting a swinging-strike rate of 4.7%.The strikeout-prone Reds should be able to put more balls in play against Quintana, and the Mets will likely force him to try to work through any struggles; they played a doubleheader Thursday and taxed their entire bullpen, using eight relievers.With an ice-cold offense, a lesser pitcher, and a fatigued 'pen, it will be tough for the Mets to find advantages in any aspect of the game.Bet: Reds (-125)Brady Singer: Under 1.5 walksThe White Sox ranked last in walk rate against righties a season ago, earning free passes 6% of the time. They made no meaningful offensive additions in the offseason, so there's every reason to expect them to struggle again this year. They've posted a walk rate of 7.4% thus far, which is 1.4% below the league average.That's great news for Singer. He was a strike machine in his season debut for the Royals and induced a ton of swings and misses. Combined with his ability to generate ground balls in bulk, he has a great recipe to avoid walks.Playing in the same division, Singer sees a lot of the White Sox every year. He's still done a great job of keeping them on their toes, going under this total in six of the past eight meetings. I expect him to do so again.Odds: -120 (playable to -140)Grayson Rodriguez: Under 17.5 outsRodriguez is one of the most talented young arms in baseball. His electric stuff can overpower almost any batter in the league. However, his location is a little erratic, and his inefficiency has resulted in plenty of short outings. He's recorded fewer than 18 outs in 17 of his 25 starts and nine of 11 while away from home.Rodriguez lasted six innings in his season debut, but that came against a mediocre and undisciplined Angels offense. The Pirates will be a much tougher test.The Pirates sit ninth in xwOBA versus right-handed pitching and sixth in walk rate. They've swung at 44.8% of pitches, the second-lowest mark in the majors. That means Rodriguez may burn a lot of pitches even if he has good command, making it tougher to go deep into the game.This one may get sweaty, but Pirates batters' ability to work the count coupled with the Orioles' well-rested bullpen (they were off Thursday) should see Rodriguez removed from this game before completing six innings.Odds: -125 (playable to -135)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.