MLB Over/Under Bet of the Day
Cleveland Guardians at Oakland Athletics
Over/Under: 7
First pitch: 4:07 p.m. ET
Probable pitchers: Shane Bieber (1-1, 2.82 ERA) vs. Cole Irvin (2-1, 3.32 ERA)
Just what in the world is going on here?
I mean, really? A total of 7 in this very pitcher-friendly stadium for a Shane Bieber game? And he’s not facing a bum.
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For comparison’s sake, our under at Oakland last Saturday featured a decisively inferior matchup in Martin Perez vs. Frankie Montas with the same exact over/under. Yet, despite the presence of a recent former Cy Young Award winner opposite a guy who has pitched more than respectably to begin his campaign, the number here to stay below is still that 7.
That would be Cole Irvin, who is one of the reasons why the Athletics are out to a surprising start exceeding their low expectations. Commencing his second year with the A’s (and second season as a full-time starter in the big leagues), Irvin has pitched his team into the sixth inning or deeper in all five of his assignments.
That’s notable for someone who doesn’t accumulate a lot of strikeouts because he also succeeded in this fashion a year ago. So far in 2022, he’s holding opposing batters to a meager .226 batting average, which ranks him in the top 20 in the league among qualifying starting pitchers.
Well, Irvin will have a desirable opportunity to keep it going. Being a day game after a nighttime affair, Cleveland is resting some regulars, including the always dangerous Franmil Reyes. As it is, the Guardians have been one of the worst teams against left-handed pitching thus far, clocking in with a .188 average and .570 OPS collectively as a team. Those marks are last in the American League.
So we have all that opposing the sharp consistency of Bieber? OK sign me up. To no one’s surprise, the 26-year-old continues to dazzle, crafting a 2.82 ERA, 0.90 WHIP, .188 BAA and 22-5 K/BB ratio through four starts. He appears settled in after notching his first two quality starts of the year across his last pair of outings.
Now he gets the feeble Athletics, a team that just tries to piece together a competent lineup by the day. They’re hitting .211 on the season and it’d be tough envisioning any kind of significant raking against one of the AL’s best. The bet on the total here is pretty academic.
Pick:
2022 MLB Over/Under Betting Record*: “13-6-3,” +6.43 units
Yesterday’s Result: Angels-White Sox Under 7 (No Action)
*Each bet graded as if it were to win 1 unit
