After a first half of the season filled with misery and horrible luck, Jon Lester has been on fire in his last five outings. He'll hope to get the red hot 67-49 Chicago Cubs back in the win column on Wednesday in the last game of a short two-game interleague series against the 56-61 Detroit Tigers.
PITCHING MATCHUP
The Cubs have absolutely gotten their money's worth out of Lester this year. Yes, he's only 8-8, but clearly, this isn't all his fault. His 3.21 ERA is incredibly indicative of how well he has pitched, and to further nail that premise down, his K/BB ratio of 4.14 is fantastic, as is his K/9 of 9.21.
Lester is 4-0 in his last five starts with an ERA a hint above 2.00, but what makes him so impressive can be seen via advanced stats.
Would you believe there are only 13 pitchers in the big leagues with a better WAR than Lester at 3.5? His FIP of 2.87? Eleventh best in the majors ahead of guys like David Price, Sonny Gray and Madison Bumgarner.
Parlay together that type of efficiency with those advanced stats, a hot left arm and a struggling batting order he's up against, and you've got the makings of a great day to live bet on the Cubbies.
That becomes especially notable with Daniel Norris pitching for the Tigers. For starters, the man has never swung a bat before in a big league game, making him a very likely easy out for Lester in this interleague clash, but more important is the fact that the lefty has been tattooed his last two times out.
Norris has surrendered nine runs over 9.2 innings against the Red Sox and Royals. Though the Cubs don't quite have the offense either of those teams have, they've been running hot and will have an opportunity to strike early and often.
ADVANCED STATS
Kyle Schwarber was probably never meant to be a full-time catcher in the bigs this year, but with the way he has been swinging the bat, the Cubs just can't send him back to Triple-A Iowa.
Over the last 30 days, Schwarber has seven home runs and 22 RBIs. His ISO of .281 is best on the team in that stretch, and he is slashing .303/.406/.990 in that span with an offensive rating of +9.4 per FanGraphs.
Since Schwarber has arrived on the scene in the majors, Chicago's offense has gone from ranked No. 24 in the majors up to No. 18, and it is averaging almost 0.3 runs per game more on average for the season.
TALKING BULLPENS
If Norris does get run out of this game early, it's going to get ugly for the Tigers for live betting purposes. Is there truly a legitimate "long reliever" in this pen? Not really.
Buck Farmer would probably be the man called upon if Detroit needed to eat some innings in the fourth or fifth, and that can't exactly give off much confidence. Farmer has pitched in relief three times since August 7, and he's allowed three runs in 5.1 innings in that stretch with a woeful WHIP of 1.69.
Even if the Tigers do have a lead though, it's easy to see how that could be blown. Alex Wilson is the only man with a sub-2.00 ERA in this bullpen, and even he hasn't been on top of his game in recent weeks.
There's a reason the Tigers have been slipping through the cracks in the American League of late, and this bullpen is a big part of that. Live bettors have to be cringing when it comes to betting on Detroit in late-game situations whether it is ahead or behind.
The MLB lines for this Wednesday contest will first be released by BookMaker Sportsbook. Gamble on the game between every half inning with BookMaker's live betting feature. Along with an adjusted in-game moneyline, you can wager on what will happen in the next at-bat or how many runs will be scored in the next inning. Live betting is the most exciting way to play!
Need to fund your account before the big game but don't have your computer? No problem! BookMaker Sportsbook now offers a mobile betting cashier so you can deposit money directly from your smartphone. Don't miss out on getting paid because you couldn't bet. Click here, and deposit at BookMaker now! The ballgame pitting the Detroit Tigers versus the Chicago Cubs will commence Wednesday, August 19, 2015 at 8:05 p.m. ET at Wrigley Field in Chicago, IL. You can watch the contest live on ESPN.
