Coming into this past weekend, the Phillies were red hot. Unfortunately, they ran into an even hotter Mets team, who took two games and won the series against Philadelphia this weekend.
Now, the Phillies look to get back on the winning track against an inferior team in the Cincinnati Reds to kick off the week.
Probable Pitchers:
Phillies Noah Syndergaard (6-8, 3.96 ERA, 70 SO) vs. Reds Mike Minor (1-9, 6.24 ERA, 54 SO)
Noah Syndergaard takes the mound for Philadelphia today and is looking for another quality outing since joining the team. After being picked up at the trade deadline, Thor has played in two games with the Phils, where he has a 4.91 ERA in 11 innings pitched. The brunt of that is from his first outing against Washington, where he let up four runs on 11 hits in five innings. However, he did bounce back last week, only allowing two runs on six innings against the Marlins.
Being that he was with the Angels for the first half of the season, Thor hasn’t faced the Reds yet this year. However, in his career, Syndergaard hasn’t earned a losing decision against Cincy. He’s 5-0 in six starts with an incredible 2.11 ERA and 0.914 WHIP. He’s now a shadow of his former self, but the successful track record is there.
On the flip side, Mike Minor will get the nod for Cincinnati today. Minor is having a career-worst season so far, as his ERA is inflated a whole run higher than his previous career worst. He hasn’t faced the Phillies in 2022, but has faced Philadelphia nine times in his career. In those appearances (eight starts), Minor has a pretty decent 3.60 ERA, but the most recent of those was in 2014.
This being said, it’s been nearly a decade since he’s faced the Phillies, so take that information as you wish.
Betting Preview and Picks
The Phillies need to use this game to break out of their slump. They haven’t scored in 18 innings, and have scored a total of two runs over their last four games.
Even after the tough stretch, their offense still stands out. They have one of the hottest lineups in baseball, have scored the eighth-most runs in the entire league (sixth in NL), and have a top-11 team batting average. Expect these numbers to hold true against a struggling Mike Minor.
Phillies Lineup
Only Nick Castellanos and Jean Segura have faced off against Minor in their careers. Each of them has 11 plate appearances against the left-hander, and hold a .364 and .455 batting average, respectively.
I correctly predicted Casty to get a hit yesterday against the Mets, and he had two. Given his streakiness and success against lefties this season (.311 average), I would add him to get a hit to any bet you may have and make it a two-leg parlay.
For the second day in a row, I’ll personally be backing the Phillies moneyline today, and likely parlaying it with Castellanos to get a hit. Given the history and the Phillies offense due to break out, I love this bet.
A $10 bet on that two-leg parlay would win you about $11 on Fanduel. This being said, it could be an easy way to double your money, shake the Monday blues, and get the work week started on the right note.
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Photo Credit: AP Photo/Matt Rourke
