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Opening Day is finally here in Major League Baseball. Some great matchups on the board showcase highly competitive pitching matchups. Many of these pitchers will be in line to win the Cy Young award.
Competitive starting pitching is perfect for NRFI bets, and we have a couple we’re eyeing on the Thursday slate. The odds for the games come from FanDuel Sportsbook, which is one of the best for MLB betting every season.
Many bonuses are available on FanDuel Sportsbook through our exclusive link for new customers. If you bet $5 on FanDuel, you can receive $200 in bonus bets instantly, which is perfect for Opening Day.
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One of the best pitching matchups of the day will occur in the National League West. The San Francisco Giants will travel to San Diego to battle the Padres. These teams have talent but share a division with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Every game against divisional opponents is critical because wins against the Dodgers will be hard to come by all year. Los Angeles is a heavy frontrunner in the World Series future market.
Look for the two pitchers in this game, Logan Webb and Yu Darvish, to come out strong. Darvish has pitched once this season in a real game against the Dodgers in Korea.
He didn’t have his best game, but it will give him a leg up when he toes the rubber for the Padres home opener. Darvish is coming off a season to forget but was efficient in his first start of the year against the Dodgers.
Darvish didn’t allow an earned run and fanned three batters in 3.2 innings. The Giants have some fearful hitters, but Darvish is known for being a solid starter.
Logan Webb will pitch for the Giants, and he owns San Diego. The Padres are batting a combined .237 off Webb in his career with just a .283 OBP. He has only allowed one homer to this lineup in 93 plate appearances.
Webb should cruise through the first inning without many issues. If Darvish can get through the top half of the inning, Webb can shut the door.
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There isn’t a lot of offensive firepower between the Guardians and Athletics. Oakland could be worse in 2024, and they were last in MLB in runs scored.
The Guardians were 27th in runs scored, so these are two of the worst offenses in baseball. The best part of Opening Day is we get to watch the best pitchers duel, and the wings in this contest shouldn’t have many issues.
Shane Bieber will be on the bump for the Guardians. He is an expert in pitching without run support and is always one of the best NRFI pitchers.
Bieber was 6-6 last season with a 3.8 ERA and a 1.23 WHIP. Over 128 innings, he recorded 107 strikeouts. Bieber relies on finesse, which is fine against an Oakland lineup without a lot of pop.
A former All-Star, Alex Wood, will take the ball for the Athletics. Wood wasn’t great last season, but he doesn’t have to maneuver many stars in Oakland’s lineup.
He went 5-5 with a 4.33 ERA and a 1.43 WHIP in 2024. Wood has looked strong throughout the spring, and we expect him to come out on fire. The -146 price has a lot of value with these two wings on the hill.
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Tanner Kern has been working in the betting industry since 2020. He currently is a social media content creator at DraftKings and contributes to multiple sites in addition to WSN, including Forbes and VSiN. He is also the cohost of the podcast Ride the Line at WSN.
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