Even though he is sporting a 2.92 ERA this year, Francisco Liriano has been one of the more fortunate pitchers in the game. He and his 62-44 Pittsburgh Pirates could end up on the short end of the stick on Saturday against the 61-46 Los Angeles Dodgers in a battle which could end up being a preview of the NL Wild Card Game.
PITCHING MATCHUP
Liriano has a 2.6 WAR this season, good for No. 24 in the league amongst qualified pitchers. Still, he isn't pitching anywhere near as well as a 2.92 ERA suggests.
Batters are only putting up a BABIP of .265 against Liriano this year. The only pitchers in the Top 25 in WAR in baseball with a lower BABIP are Max Scherzer, Dallas Keuchel, Zack Greinke, Jacob deGrom, Sonny Gray and Johnny Cueto. Just as many have a BABIP against over .300.
Liriano scattered 10 hits and only allowed three runs against the Twins in his last official start. Normally speaking, 10 hits in 5.2 innings sees a pitcher concede a very crooked number. If the Dodgers are making significant contact on Saturday, live bettors definitely need to take note and know that Liriano's luck is bound to run out eventually.
The Dodgers traded for Mat Latos to give them a reliable middle-of-the-rotation arm to get some innings out of. One has to wonder if all he is going to be asked to do is throw six innings at a time to hand the ball over to a fantastic bullpen.
Latos allowed just four hits and a run over six frames in his first start with the Dodgers, but he was yanked after throwing just 80 pitches. On one hand, he's fresh, but on the other, Latos hasn't thrown more than 90 pitches in a game since the middle of June.
ADVANCED STATS
The Pirates have all sorts of men on their team with 20+ home run potential. Pedro Alvarez, Gregory Blanco, Starling Marte, Neil Walker and Andrew McCutchen could all get there any given year. None of the five might get there this season.
Power just hasn't been Pittsburgh's thing this year, which is a bad sign against Latos, who doesn't allow a ton of home runs as it is.
Just how bad are things for the Bucs? They rank No. 27 in the league in team ISO at .129, just .006 ahead of the Phillies. Pittsburgh's slugging percentage as a team of .385 is at least modest, but that's still only good for No. 21 in the bigs.
If Pittsburgh is going to be getting runs on the board against Latos, know that those runs are going to come by way of singles and in small intervals.
TALKING BULLPENS
This newly concocted LA bullpen really looks like it could be frightening. Don Mattingly has the ability to turn the ball over to Jim Johnson, J.P. Howell, Paco Rodriguez or Pedro Baez in the middling innings, and Kenley Jansen is still one of the best closers in the game.
The numbers don't suggest that the Dodgers are lights out in the back of their pen, but we still have a lot of confidence. Johnson is a lot better than he has shown so far with LA in his two short stints on the mound, and the rest of these men who have ERAs in the high-2.00s can all throw gas and get out of frames in a hurry.
Jansen has been problematic at times too, but we wonder if striking out the side in his last outing on Wednesday against the Phillies on just 13 pitches might get him going again.
Live bettors should feel like games always in reach for the Dodgers with this bullpen floating around, even if the unit is called upon in the fifth inning.
The baseball betting odds for this game will first be available at BookMaker Sportsbook. BookMaker is going to have multiple betting options available for this baseball matchup. Live wagering during commercials offers and adjusted moneyline, individual inning run totals and next hitter results. Log in, and start gambling during the game now!
BookMaker offers play-by-play betting odds for live sporting events every day! The user-friendly wagering interface on your smartphone provides an easy way to place bets on the go. Mobile betting lines are updated by the minute, so click here to start gambling on thrilling live action at BookMaker Sportsbook! The game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Pittsburgh Pirates will start at 4:10 p.m. ET on Saturday, August 8, 2015 at PNC Park in Pittsburgh, PA. The matchup will be televised nationally on FOX Sports 1.
