Zac Gallen

Find year-round coverage of betting news and insights for all sports by visiting our Betting section and subscribing to push notifications.We have a monstrous 15-game slate ahead of us Wednesday. Let's examine a few plays that pop off the page as we look to get back on track following an underwhelming start to the week.Athletics (+195) @ Yankees (-230)The Athletics started the season respectably, but their putrid offense is finally catching up to them.Oakland is hitting .204 and averaging just 2.8 runs per game this season, leaving the team no margin for error when it comes to pitching or defense.It's very hard to grind out results when you're so inept offensively. We've seen that of late with the Athletics, who have dropped six of the past eight games and scored just two runs in one of their wins.They'll need to pick it up offensively in a big way if they're going to hang around with the Yankees. That's easier said than done when going up against Clarke Schmidt.Schmidt doesn't generally pitch deep into games, but it's tough to score against him when he's on the mound. He's allowed two runs or fewer in three of four starts this season, with a three-run showing against an Astros team sitting sixth in xwOBA serving as the lone exception.Schmidt should be able to minimize the damage this struggling Athletics attack can dole out.That means Joe Boyle needs to shine against the Yankees, and I don't see that happening. He owns a 7.23 ERA this season and has struggled mightily with control. That's not a great recipe for success versus a New York team that walks at a very high rate.This is a good matchup for the Yankees to hit the ground running offensively. Look for them to give Schmidt plenty of support early and hold a lead through five innings.Bet: Yankees F5 -0.5 (-140)Joe Ryan: Over 6.5 strikeoutsRyan is a strikeout machine. He's stacked up 30 through just 22 2/3 innings pitched and is averaging 7.5 per start.His strikeout prowess should continue to serve him well against the White Sox. They own a 26.6 K% against right-handed pitchers over the past two weeks, ranking them worse than all but two teams.Opposing pitchers have put up massive numbers versus Chicago, particularly of late. The White Sox have struck out 31 times in aggregate against the last four opposing starters, which is insane considering Pablo L pez only completed four innings last time out.Ryan has electric stuff and wastes very few pitches. That should allow him to give the Twins good length in this game and pile up the strikeouts along the way.Odds: -125 (playable to -140)Matt Waldron: Over 3.5 strikeoutsThe Rockies struck out only three times against Zac Gallen on Opening Day. Sixteen consecutive right-handed starters have registered four-plus Ks against Colorado since, including Michael King, Emerson Hancock, Zack Littell, Javier Assad, Brandon Pfaadt, and plenty of other starters who aren't exactly household names.Waldron has gone over this line in three of four starts this season, falling short only against the Blue Jays. However, Toronto owns the seventh-lowest K% against righties, while the Rockies sit 28th.Colorado has very little discipline at the plate and hasn't shown the ability to limit strikeouts even when the team has chased opposing pitches early on.Look for Waldron, who's sat down more than 20% of opposing batters, to record a handful of strikeouts before exiting this game.Odds: -115 (playable to -130)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.

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.