MLB Betting Free Picks: Washington @ Colorado

Added on May 14, 2010 by Jack Thurman in

MLB

Nothing but baseball betting at sportsbooks for Friday, so we’ll bring you a pair of MLB betting positions today. We’ll start in the National League where we’ve got an actual pitching duel on tap as a pair of hurlers who have been pretty much unhittable in the early going go at it with the Rockies’ Ubaldo Jimenez taking on the Nats’ Livan Hernandez:

Washington Nationals (Hernandez) at Colorado Rockies (Ubaldo Jimenez)
May 14, 6:10 PM Pacific

Very interesting matchup between two of the surprise pitchers of the year. Baseball people knew that Jimenez was a quality pitcher, but his performance so far in 2010 has been masterful. He’s got a 0.93 ERA and Colorado has won 6 of his 7 starts. Unfortunately, he’s been one of the few bright spots in what has so far been a mediocre season in the Mile High City. Colorado checks in with a 16-17 record which has them in 4th place in the NL West 5.5 games behind division leading San Diego. The first game of the series took place on Thursday night, so all records in this writeup are pending the outcome of that contest.

The Washington Nationals, meanwhile, are pretty much a surprise from top to bottom. We’ll start with their overall record of 19-15 which has them a single game back of Philadelphia in the NL East. They’ve got a winning record both at home and on the road, and have won 6 of their last 10 overall. And what about 35 year old Livan Hernandez? Actually, Hernandez may very well be significantly older than 35–he’s from Cuba which is notorious for fabricating the ages of their ballplayers. Hernandez was considered by many to be completely washed up after several unimpressive years–most recently, he posted a 6.05 ERA in 2008 and a 5.44 ERA in 2009. Entering the season, the Nats’ ‘best case scenario’ for Hernandez was that he’d be able to put in quality innings–what they didn’t expect is that he’d be putting up Cy Young worth numbers. Hernandez checks in with a 1.04 ERA overall and a road ERA of 0.64. More importantly, the Nationals have won 5 of his 6 starts.

So we’ve got the makings of a great pitching duel and a classic value play. The Rockies have been far from dominant at home this season (8-6) and with all due respect to the considerable talents of Jimenez, with Hernandez’s current form this matchup is a toss up–but a toss up that we’re getting +225 on one side of. Due to their surprising success in the early going, the Nationals have been a money making machine for bettors–they’ve banked +12.9 units overall and +6.9 units on the road. Sports betting oddsmakers and the casual fan have been slow to accept Washington’s success, and amazingly Hernandez has been an underdog in every one of his starts this season. We’ll take advantage of their myopia and take a great price with a pitcher in the best form of his career.

Bet Washington (Hernandez) +225 over Colorado (Jimenez)