Ricky Dimon
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With Opening Day in the rearview mirror, we are off and running in this 2024 Major League Baseball season. Action on the diamond continues with a full 15-game slate on Saturday, headlined by an afternoon showdown between the Braves and Phillies. We also have Yankees vs Astros, Cubs vs Rangers, Giants vs Padres, Cardinals vs Dodgers and the nightcap between the Red Sox and Mariners.
Below is my mega parlay for Saturday; also be sure to check out all of our MLB picks.
Braves -1.5 (+125)
Yankees ML (+114)
Diamondbacks -1.5 (+114)
MLB parlay odds: +930
For this parlay I am going with 2 favorites on the run line and 1 underdog on the money line. Let’s break down each of the 3 legs.
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Atlanta Braves -1.5 over Philadelphia Phillies (+125)
After pushing back Opening Day to Friday because, the Braves took the first game of the season. They erupted for 9 runs in the seventh and eighth innings to win 9-3. Philadelphia’s bullpen was a complete disaster and that puts a lot of pressure on Aaron Nola to replicate the performance of Zack Wheeler. The Phillies got 6.0 innings of shutout baseball from Wheeler on Friday and still lost by 6 runs. Their offense didn’t do much against Spencer Strider (or Atlanta’s bullpen, for that matter) and now they have to face Max Fried. That is arguably an even worse matchup than Strider since Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber – Philly’s 2 most dangerous hitters – are lefties. Give me the 2021 World Series champs to pick up another multi-run victory.
New York Yankees ML over Houston Astros (+114)
The Yankees are off to a 2-0 start at the Astros’ expense. They were part of my mega parlay on Friday and I’m going right back to the well for this play. The Bronx Bombers have – as expected – displayed offensive firepower, tallying 14 runs in their first 2 games of the season thanks in large part to the contributions of Juan Soto and Oswaldo Cabrera. More of the same should continue against Hunter Brown, who went 11-13 last season with a 5.09 ERA. New York is countering with newly acquired Marcus Stroman, formerly with the Cubs. Stroman (10-9, 3.95 ERA in 2023) gave up a modest 6 runs in 20.2 innings of work during spring training. He should keep Houston’s bats in check to the exent that even an average amount of offense by the Yankees will likely pave the way to a third straight win.
Arizona Diamondbacks -1.5 over Colorado Rockies (+114)
You probably won’t find a bigger mismatch between 2 teams during the first week of the season. Arizona is coming off a World Series appearance and is probably even better than it was last year; Colorado went 59-103, compiling the third-worst record in the league. The Rockies may be even worse now than they were in 2023, too. Unsurprisingly, the first 2 games have accurately reflected the situation. After dominating the opener 16-1, the Diamondbacks rolled 7-3 on Friday. Tommy Henry takes the mound on Saturday and he was stellar in his last 7 starts of 2023 (39.0 innings pitched, 14 earned runs allowed). In his most recent appearance against Colorado last May he fired 7.0 innings of scoreless ball. The Rockies’ lineup stinks, so count on Henry having more success. If he does, the Snakes’ offense should be enough to win – again – by multiple runs.
