Wednesday Picks and the Quote of the Year

Now that's a little more like it. 3-0 last night, back in the black/green. We'll go ahead and erase those gains now with another three-play day. All lines from Matchbook:

Baltimore Orioles +138, 1 unit to win 1.38 units.

Pick against the Yankees? But they're the Yankees! They always win. They're 5 games under .500 this year you say? They probably had to forfeit a bunch of times or something. No way THE YANKEES can lose!

Anyway, Rasner looks fine so far I suppose, but the O's have killed him in limited apperances before, and the Yankees didn't start the season with Hughes and Kennedy ahead of Rasner for rotation spots because they wanted to protect Rasner's fragile ego. We'll take the underdog money on the team that is actually above .500 here.


Pittsburgh Pirates +121, 1 unit to win 1.21 units.

Two quality pitchers on two 21-24 teams. I've been accused of having an irrational pro-Snell bias in the past (or even a man-crush), so consider yourself warned if you follow this play. But I think his uncharacteristic struggles this season are partially explained by his high BABIP (.352). Similarly, Sheets' success can be in part explained by his .241 BABIP. We still think Sheets is the better pitcher, but the separation between the two isn't enough to warrant this line, given the Brewers' road struggles.


Astros +104, 1 unit to win 1.04.

Hambone loves him some Astros. I'm starting to come around. This is a tough one to call given the inability of both starters to find the strike zone, like, ever. With a tough-to-call game, we'll take underdog money on the home team against a Joe Public favorite like the Cubs. "Fade Joe Public" is one of the Against All Odds Commandments. It's right after "Check the BABIP numbers".

And now, the 2008 MLB Quote of the Year (non-Ichiro edition). The following is Chris Snyder's commentary on Brandon Webb, from a USA Today feature on the Diamondbacks' jovial, musical clubhouse:

"It doesn't take a whole lot to make Webby happy," Diamondbacks catcher Chris Snyder says. "Give him a Wal-Mart and a Cracker Barrel, tell him when to pitch, and he's all set."