This article is part of our MLB Picks series.
Toronto Blue Jays 
-120 vs. Boston Red Sox 
(Jose Berrios vs. Nathan Eovaldi)
I don't ordinarily like to bet a pitcher making his second consecutive start against the same team, but Eovaldi is in the same boat here, so that kind of cancels it out. Berrios turned in his best start of the young season when facing the Red Sox in Fenway last week, getting up to 96 pitches in the process, so he seems fully stretched out now. While both pitchers are pretty decent, I feel Berrios is better, and I also think the Blue Jay have an edge on offense. No reason not to take them as a short-priced home favorite. One other note that probably doesn't mean much right now, but Boston is currently 3-8 vs. RHP this year (no such issues last year).
Bo Bichette over 1.5 Total Bases, +120 (DraftKings Sportsbook)
Bichette is 5-for-12 with a homer vs. Eovaldi, and of course hits second in the order. Decent chance that he either doubles, homers, or gets a couple of hits here.
Lourdes Gurriel Jr. over 1.5 Total Bases, +125 (DraftKings Sportsbook)
Gurriel has almost the same numbers Bichette does vs. Eovaldi, having gone 4-for-10 with a homer. Gurriel has been hitting very well to start the year; let's take him to continue.
Houston Astros 
F5 -0.5, +100 at Texas Rangers 
(Framber Valdez vs. Dane Dunning)
Valdez has been quite bad this year, but that's very unlike him, so I'm sure he'll get things straightened out. The good news is that Valdez did well vs. the Rangers last year, making two starts and winning both, while allowing only 3 hits over 13 innings. He did walk several batters, which has been his issue so far this year, and that remains a concern. Dunning has had his own share of problems on the other side though, and with the pitching and offensive edge here, I'm fine laying even-money that the Astros have a lead after 5 innings. One prop I saw that kind of caught my eye was the Framber Vadez Win (+180 at DraftKings), though obviously that should be an either/or prop, and I just felt better about the F5 line.
RotoWire baseball record:
8-10, -2.28 units
Overall baseball record:
49-37, +15.46 units
