It's weird going from real baseball games back to spring training, but that's what I've gotta do for my MLB expert picks tonight.
After going 1-1 in my Seoul Series picks earlier this week, I've got two spring training selections for today's game — back to my strategy of taking the biggest underdogs, if the sportsbooks will give them to us:
MLB Expert Picks: March 22nd, 2024
You can jump directly to today's picks here:
Pick 1: Nationals (+190) vs Astros
Game Time: 6:05 PM ET
If you give me a massive underdog line in spring training, I’m going to take it.
I get why the Astros are heavy favorites here. It’s reliever Derek Law vs Cy Young candidate Framer Valdez. And the Astros are the home team.
But, the Nats could still very easily win this game. Washington is 15-10 in spring compared to Houston’s 11-14 record. And, despite being a great pitcher, Valdez has a 7.71 ERA in spring so far while Law is rocking a nice 0.00.
While the Astros are the better team, the Nationals could win this game for sure. So, getting a nice juicy underdog line is an easy bet for me.
Pick 2: Pirates (+215) vs Orioles
Game Time: 6:05 PM ET
The basis for this Pirates bet is pretty similar to my Washington selection. Give me the massive underdog line in spring any day. But, I’m even more confident in this one due to the starting pitching matchup.
Pittsburgh’s starter is young hurler Jared Jones, who has been one of spring’s best pitchers this year. Jones has a 0.00 ERA so far this preseason while Baltimore’s Corbin Burnes owns a 9.28 ERA.
It’s pretty clear the Orioles are the more talented team, but at +215 this is an easy Pirates bet.
