Red Sox vs O’s Baseball Picks
The Red Sox won the World Series last year but this will be a very different club this season. The most obvious difference will be at the top of the lineup where OF Jacoby Ellsbury jumped ship to the Yankees.
Boston Red Sox (0-0) vs. Baltimore Orioles (0-0)
Monday March 31
Oriole Park @ Camden Yards – Baltimore, MD
3:05PM
Probable Starters:
BOS: Jon Lester (L)
BAL: Chris Tillman (R)
Moneyline: Boston -118, Baltimore +109
O/U: 8.5
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Boston
The opened up a spot for OF Jackie Bradley but the leadoff role is expected to go to OF Daniel Nava, a totally different player. This team is younger too with SS Xander Bogaerts expected to he ready for everyday duty this season.
It is no surprise that the Sox are tabbing Jon Lester to start opening day. He might not have put up the numbers of Clay Buchholz last season but he is their workhorse and had a nice season overall. He got out to a fast start last season with a 4-0 record in the first month.
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The Orioles batted over .300 against him at Camden yards over the season though.
Their biggest bat is left handed but they have plenty of guys who can put a charge into from the right side as well.
Baltimore
The O’s had another very good season last year with position players like 1B Chris Davis and OF Adam Jones having career seasons. It is probably unreasonable to expect Davis to club another 53 homers but 80 between the two would not be a shock and there are some nice offensive pieces around them.
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The think you will notice is that they have power in almost every spot in the lineup giving pitchers little room to breathe.
Speaking of pitchers the O’s will be going with their top winner from last year to start the season.
As far as aces go Chris Tillman might lack some qualities but he won 16 games last year as he finally became a little less hittable. He was 3-1 against Boston last season which might have had something to do with it as well.
I have to admit that I am a little bit worried about the Baltimore closer situation – Tommy Hunter has never been relied upon in this role in the past for any stretch of time.
MLB Free Pick
I am not sure what to make of this Boston lineup yet. They will score runs for sure but where is that spark going to come from when you need it. I love the value on Baltimore with a pitcher that had success against Boston last year and a lineup that is very good and can mash pretty much anybody.
A few balls are likely to leave the yard in this one.
There should be a nice buzz with a division series to start the season. A win opening day doesn’t really mean much unless you really want it to.
O/U Pick: Under
Score Prediction: Baltimore 4 – Boston 3
