A future hall-of-famer takes the mound in Los Angeles tonight.
The pregame narrative: Clayton Kershaw makes his sixth start since returning from the IL and I like him to carve up the offensively inept Tampa Bay Rays. Also, bet Mookie Betts to score at a reasonable price.
Check out my Rays vs. Dodgers prop picks for Aug. 24.
Rays vs. Dodgers prop picks
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Best Bet: Kershaw over 15.5 outs (+107)
Kershaw has been a horse his entire career but it looked like the glue factory was approaching.
The veteran underwent surgery to repair his shoulder last offseason after a miserable NLDS performance (0.1 IP, six earned runs). Then, he got lit up by the San Francisco Giants and San Diego Padres in his first two starts back.
But Kershaw has looked vintage since.
He has a 1.10 ERA across three starts in August. The lefty cleared this line twice and most recently threw 6.0 innings of shutout ball against the St. Louis Cardinals. Before that, he recorded 17 outs against a strong Milwaukee Brewers lineup.
The Rays don't possess an offence that scares anyone and I expect Kershaw to go over this number for a third straight game.
Tampa Bay has the worst batting average (.152) and second-lowest wRC+ (49) against lefties since the trade deadline.
The Los Angeles Dodgers are going to treat Kershaw with kid gloves and he won't be throwing 90-plus pitches. But that should still be enough wiggle room to get into the sixth inning.
Key stat: Four of the last five starters to face Tampa Bay have cleared this line (all recorded 6.0+ IP).
Quick pick
Betts over 0.5 runs (-106): Taj Bradley gets the ball for Tampa Bay and he's been getting smoked lately.
The second-year righty has an 8.10 ERA in his last four starts and opponents are slashing .321/.387/.593.
Betts went 0-for-4 yesterday and has just two hits in his last four games. But he's one of the best players in baseball and has a spectacular .396 OBP against RHP this year.
He's never faced Bradley before but I like his chances of getting on base tonight.
And as Los Angeles' No. 2 hitter, he'll get Freddie Freeman and Teoscar Hernandez batting behind him. That's a luxury. Hernandez is one of the only Dodgers with experience against Bradley and he's 2-for-5 with a double.
Picks made at 12:48 p.m. ET 08/24/2024.
