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The San Diego Padres and San Francisco Giants are on opposite sides of the NL West, but the spread between first and last in the division is 6.5-games. The margin could get a heck of a lot closer this week if the Pads manage to pull off some upsets. That said, live bettors will certainly be far more interested in San Francisco than in San Diego on Tuesday night.
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PITCHING MATCHUP
Jeff Samardzija apparently needed a change of scenery after last season. Last year, he lost a career-high 13 games as a member of the White Sox, but now that he's with the Giants, he looks more like the man who was really dominant with the Cubs for so many years. He's got a 6-2 mark and a 2.66 ERA.
Live bettors should be a little concerned about the quantity of pitching Samardzija has done of late. He's tossed at least 7.2 innings in four straight starts, and he's thrown an average of 114 pitches per game in those outings. Still, he's got a history of being a horse, and he throws a huge percentage of strikes, and that's why he's been so good in 2016.
History will tell you that Andrew Cashner is one of the unluckiest pitchers in baseball. Last year, he posted a 4.34 ERA. Sure, that's not great, but it's not 6-16 bad either. The year prior, Cashner posted a 2.55 ERA over 123.1 innings of work. He went just 5-7.
Still, Cashner hasn't been as encouraging this year in spite of his 2-3 record. His 4.93 ERA is the worst of his career, but the bigger concern is his low K/9 of just 7.27.
ADVANCED STATS
The difference between winning and losing games for the Padres has been striking out, and they're doing so a lot. With the way Samardzija throws strikes, this could be a real problem for San Diego in this one.
Melvin Upton Jr., Wil Myers, Jon Jay, Derek Norris and Matt Kemp all have strikeout percentages of at least 22 percent, and that's just pathetic.
Against pitchers who just don't throw strikes all that often, we could see trusting this lineup in live betting. Against a flamethrower that can accurately place the ball, all these strikeouts could be really problematic.
TALKING BULLPENS
Part of the reason why the Giants have been so good in recent years is their bullpen. They've always seemed to have closers who have gotten the job done in the really important games, but this year, there are surely problems.
Santiago Casilla already has three blown saves this year, but he's still the best option to close out a game. There isn't a man in this bullpen that possesses an ERA better than 2.00, but in fairness, Javier Lopez is the only man with an ERA beyond 3.50 as well.
The Giants don't do anything spectacularly in the bullpen, but against a lineup which averages just 3.57 runs per game and bats .224 as a team, we have to think they'll get the job done if they're called into action for live bettors.
MLB Odds at BookMaker.eu
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