Major League Baseball is back like it never left, but unfortunately COVID-19 complications haven’t left us either. The Nationals are set to make their debut tonight against the Atlanta Braves. With their opening day games against the Mets being canceled, they are starting five days after the field.
On Thursday, manager Mike Rizzo announced that several players had tested positive for COVID-19 – although he did not mention which players. Today, the Nationals added the following players to the Injured List.
Players placed on IL today:
- Kyle Schwarber OF
- Alex Avila C
- Jan Gomes C
- Josh Bell 1B
- Patrick Corbin SP
- Jon Lester SP
- Brad Hand RP
- Jordy Mercer IF
- Josh Harrison 2B
MLB Betting Odds have the Nationals as -121 favorites against the Braves on PointsBet Sportsbook.
Nationals Vs. Braves April 6 Odds
The odds have not yet been corrected for the Braves and Nationals game and perhaps they won’t. After all, the Nationals have Max Scherzer up against Drew Smyly. The pitching mismatch alone is enough for the Nationals to be favored.
However, the Nationals closer Brad Hand is out indefinitely as well as both of their catchers, their starting second baseman and their first basemen. In total, they are missing 44% of their starting lineup and their most important bullpen piece.
Getting the Braves at plus money with all of these factors in place is too much value for me to pass up.
Nationals vs. Braves Betting Pick And Cross-Sport Parlay
My initial play for this game was to bet under 9.5 strikeouts for Max Scherzer. That’s an extremely high number against a solid Braves lineup. However, with the loss of Brad Hand, the Nationals could be more likely to extend Scherzer deep into the game.
Instead, I will bet the Braves outright at +105 via DraftKings Sportsbook. I would bet this down to -115 which is where I think the line should be corrected to.
Brad Hand’s lack of availability and whoever they start at catcher are just the start of their problems. The season has gotten off to a bumpy road in Washington and I’ll take the better team in Atlanta.
One of my more successful (and fun) trends is to take my favorite baseball and basketball bets and parlay them. My favorite NBA bet is the Indiana Pacers to beat the Chicago Bulls.
I think the Pacers should be favored here. They are well-rested and have a more talented roster. NBA betting odds for this game have it near a pick em’. Using our parlay calculator, we should get around +300 on this bet.
Parlay Pick: Braves +105 + Pacers -105 (+302 odds via DraftKings Sportsbook)
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