Today's Taste: Best MLB Bets (4/18/23)

Wow. Last night was brutal. Hunter Greene got yanked after three innings because he got scorched with a ground ball, which didn’t allow him to compete for the strikeouts. And Kevin Gausman had a brutal first inning in Houston, so Toronto had no chance. There are ups and downs in this game, but today is a new day to turn it around.

 

Philadelphia Phillies (-122) @ Chicago White Sox (+104) | Over/Under 8

 

Things aren’t off to the best of starts for both the defending NL Champion, and a team people expected to be contending in this decade. The Phillies are clearly missing Bryce Harper (and Rhys Hoskins) as they look utterly lost without him. Chicago, meanwhile, seems like a ship without a captain. It’s still early, so it can turn around, but you’re better off not falling in too deep of a hole. 

 

Philly was my team I picked to win it all in the preseason of 2022. Oh so close. Of course I understood the difficulty of reaching the same heights the very next season, even if they have weapons everywhere. It’s evident that this 6-10 Phillies team has no swagger or confidence right now. However, when that is the case, they have just the guy to set things back in order. Zack Wheeler will have the ball this evening as his team tries to notch their third win in the last four games. Wheeler has been strong in his last two outings, allowing only three earned runs in 11.1 innings. Drawing a White Sox team in the midst of a brutal stretch where they have lost seven of their last 10, this is a good spot for the reigning NL Champs to heat up. 

 

Outside of Luis Robert (and a little bit of Jake Burger), nobody on this Sox offense has really made an impact. The scoring has been a bit shady, only hitting over three runs in three of their last seven outings. Wheeler is one of the best pitchers in baseball. It’s a butter matchup against a touch and go CWS team.

 

With Lance Lynn on the mound for Chicago, he could have his hands full against the team with the highest collective batting average in the MLB (.293). The probability that the Phillies rack up hits and get on base against Lynn should ultimately bear fruit in the form of runs. Although one bad outing has bloated his overall stat line, LL has still surrendered 19 hits and seven walks over 16 innings. I would imagine he is solid today, but he should still yield a few runs, which is more than enough when “Throw it back” Zack is on the bumpski.

 

Pick: Phillies ML -122