San Diego Padres vs Arizona Diamondbacks MLB Picks, Odds, Predictions 4/1/21
2021-04-01 16:10:00 EDT
The Arizona Diamondbacks and the San Diego Padres meet Thursday in MLB Opening Day action from Petco Park.
Arizona managed to go 25-35 overall last season. That result left the Diamondbacks in fifth place in the National League West and out of the playoffs. As for San Diego, they placed second in the division at 37-23. The Padres made it to the NLDS before falling to the Dodgers. Check back all season long for free MLB picks at Sports Chat Place.
Arizona really couldn’t get much going during the 2020 season, finishing at 25-35 overall and their first losing season since 2016. The Diamondbacks finished at 5-5 versus both the Rockies and Padres last year, but really struggled versus the Dodgers and Giants with 2-8 records versus both those teams.
For Thursday’s Opening Day start, the Diamondbacks will send out Madison Bumgarner. It’s his seventh career opener start. Bumgarner struggled through his nine starts last season, posting a 1-4 record with a 6.48 ERA, 30 strikeouts and 30 earned runs in 41.2 total innings.
Over on the Padres’ side, they made some major strides last season with a winning record for the first time since 2010 and their first postseason appearance since 2006. san Diego took out the Cardinals in the NL Wild Card Series, but fell to the Dodgers in the NL Division Series.
For the Opening Day nod, the Padres will send out Yu Darvish. San Diego acquired Darvish in a trade during December, and finished second in NL Cy Young votes last year. Darvish posted an 8-3 record with a 2.01 ERA and 93 strikeouts in 12 games with the Cubs in 2020.
The Diamondbacks are 5-1 ATS in their last six overall and 5-1 ATS in their last six on grass. Arizona is 11-27 ATS in their last 38 road games and 2-5 ATS in their last seven Thursday games.
Meanwhile, the Padres are 17-8 ATS in their last 25 home games and 0-4 ATS in the last four in game one of a series. San Diego is 0-4 ATS in their last four after an off day and 1-4 ATS in their last five versus a left-handed starter.
PICK: I’m going to stick with the Padres here. Darvish posted 8.0 innings this spring and gave up four earned runs with 11 strikeouts. He should be ready to go in this opener with his new team and will give San Diego more reason for optimism in 2021. I like Bumgarner to pitch well here also (he’s no stranger to Opening Day starts), with San Diego posting the deciding runs in the later innings.
