Miami Marlins vs Tampa Bay Rays MLB Picks, Odds, Predictions 4/1/21
2021-04-01 16:10:00 EDT
The Tampa Bay Rays and Miami Marlins meet Thursday in MLB Opening Day action at loanDepot Park.
The Tampa Bay Rays won 40 games last season and made it all the way to the World Series where they lost to the Dodgers in six games. The Rays offense that finished 12th in runs scored and sixth in stolen bases stays the same, but a full season of postseason star Randy Arozarena should help take things to another level. The Rays starting rotation features three new faces in Chris Archer, Rich Hill and Michael Wacha. The Rays have one of the better pitching staffs in all of baseball and it’s why they’re once again a dark horse World Series contender. Tyler Glasnow gets the ball, and he was 5-1 with a 4.08 ERA and 91 strikeouts last season. Glasnow is 0-1 with a 8.68 ERA and 10 strikeouts in his career against the Marlins.
The Miami Marlins shocked the baseball world with 31 wins and made it to the NL Division Series. The Marlins bread and butter is a young, talented pitching staff that includes andy Alcantara, Pablo Lopez and Elieser Hernandez. The Marlins bullpen added depth this offseason with Anthony Bass, Dylan Floro and John Curtiss. The Marlins offense features a lot of small ball and they finished second in stolen bases, but there’s potential power in the middle of the order with Starling Marte, Jesús Aguilar and Adam Duvall. The Marlins are a team heading in the right direction and you shouldn’t be shocked if they make another run at a playoff berth. Sandy Alcantara gets the ball, and he was 3-2 with a 3.00 ERA and 39 strikeouts last season. Alcantara is 1-1 with a 5.40 ERA and 10 strikeouts in his career against the Rays.
The Rays are 37-17 in their last 54 games as a favorite and 45-21 in their last 66 overall. The Marlins are 17-39 in their last 56 Thursday games and 2-6 in their last 8 interleague home games. The under is 15-4 in Rays last 19 road games. The under is 5-1 in Marlins last 6 overall. The Rays are 5-0 in the last 5 meetings in Miami and 47-23 in the last 70 meetings.
The Tampa Bay Rays are going to be favored, as they’re fresh off a World Series trip and Glasnow is a talented pitcher with some of the better stuff in the league. However, the Miami Marlins cashed a lot of tickets in the underdog role last season and are pretty much the same team from a year ago. Not sure why many expect a step backwards from this group. Also, Alcantara has legit ace potential and is one of many quality starting pitchers for Miami. I’ll be grabbing the fish and plus money a lot this season, and I’ll start with opening day.
