MLB Betting Picks for Thursday: Detroit Tigers at Oakland A's
The Oakland A’s are -174 moneyline favorites versus the Detroit Tigers with a run total of 8.5 at online sports betting sites. Here’s a look at MLB odds and baseball betting picks for today, Thursday, April 15th, 2021.
MLB Betting Picks for Today
The Oakland A’s enter Thursday night’s game sitting last in the AL West with a record of 5-7 and have been one of the worst teams in the league at home so far this season. They currently rank 7th in the league in wOBA versus left-handed pitching and their bullpen currently ranks 25th in the league in xFIP at 4.83. Detroit currently sits 4th in the AL Central with a record of 6-6. They are dead last in the MLB in wOBA vs. LHP sitting at .242 with a 29.3% K rate, and their bullpen has been one of the worst in the league sitting at 4.96, which ranks 27th overall in baseball.
Manaea is drawing the start today for the A’s and since the beginning of last season he has been a well above average pitcher, sitting at a 3.74 xFIP, 22.9% K rate and a 4.4% walk rate with a solid GB rate. The Detroit Tigers lineup is really not great in any particular spot outside of Ramos, who is have a good start to the 2021 season. But overall, the Tigers have been horrible when stepping up to the plate. They have a near 30% K rate and by far the lowest wOBA in the league (although it is still a small sample size of just 58 plate appearances).
Skubal really isn’t a guy who we’ve seen a ton from in the big leagues. With only seven starts last season and two starts this season we only have a 175-plate appearance sample size. What Skubal has done so far is give up a whole lot of fly balls and be an above average K guy. His matchup against the A’s isn’t a great one as they currently rank 7th in wOBA and 27th in K’s vs LHP, but I still think this is a fairly good spot for him as Oakland is a great ballpark for FB pitchers.
MLB Weather Report
The temperature is sitting at 57 degrees tonight and according to MLB Weather Edge this has a -4.6% decrease in home runs and -2.8% decrease in ERA over a 237-game sample size.
Overall, the two main bets I like have to do with some MLB player props for this game, which you can find exclusively at Scores and Odds by clicking on the ad below.
Editor’s Note: Grant is 16-3 and +16.32 units on MLB player props this season!
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Tigers-A’s MLB Betting Picks
While I certainly feel better about the props I have picked out, I also see a slight edge betting on the Oakland moneyline and the Under. The A’s are -174 favorites at PointsBet Sportsbook and you can find Under 8.5 runs (-115) at BetMGM. Ultimately, I think Manae’s arm will be too much for this lackluster Tigers lineup.
[Bet Under 8.5 Runs at BetMGM]
[Bet A’s -174 at William Hill]
MLB DFS Tips For Today
I really don’t like any batters today in this game with the exception of Chapman as a one-off, but I absolutely love the pitching in this game. I plan on using one of Manaea or Skubal in every single one of my lineups today and I don’t expect them to be too highly owned. The likely chalk today will be Rich Hill and Urias who are really not much better plays then Manaea in my opinion and Skubal is likely to be entirely unowned today and has a real shot at putting up a solid outing. For more MLB DFS tips, sign up for RG Premium!
MLB Odds Boost of the Day
My favorite odds boost today is over on BetRivers where a parlay of the Nationals, Rays, and Athletics are boosted from +275 to +320. I like the betting odds on all three of these teams to win, so the boost is more than good enough for me to max out this wager.
[Parlay: Nats, Rays & A’s +320 at Bet Rivers]
Current Odds Boost Record: 3-3 (+6.6 Units)
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