Atlanta Braves vs Los Angeles Dodgers Predictions, Odds, Picks

• Cy Young candidates go toe to toe
• Freddie went yard in debut vs. former team, what will he do for an encore
• X-factor to watch on both sides

Braves vs Dodgers Odds

Atlanta Braves vs Los Angeles Dodgers Prediction and Picks

The Dodgers are the most stacked team on paper and they’ve shown that early this season. Los Angeles is yet to lose at home after last night’s 7-4 victory. The scary thing for the rest of the league is, a lot of the heavy hitters haven’t even gotten going for L.A. Heading into the series, Trea Turner, Cody Bellinger, Freddie Freeman, Max Muncy, Justin Turner, and Mookie Betts all have OPS’s below .800. That’s not going to last. Atlanta seems to still be battling that dreaded World Series hangover, so we’re going to take the Dodgers to cover the spread.

Garcia’s 2022 record: (5-2)

Atlanta Braves vs Los Angeles Dodgers Bettin Trends to Watch (As of 4.18)

• Braves are 8-1 in their last 9 during game 2 of a series
• Braves are 6-1 in their last 7 Tuesday games
• Braves are 21-6 in their last 27 vs. a team with a winning record
• Braves are 13-5 in their last 18 vs. National League West
• Braves are 11-5 in their last 16 road games
• Braves are 1-4 in their last 5 games vs. a right-handed starter
• Under is 5-1-1 in Braves last 7 road games
• Under is 4-1 in Braves last 5 overall
• Under is 3-1-1 in Braves last 5 games vs. a starter with a WHIP greater than 1.30
• Over is 4-1 in the last 5 head-to-head meetings
• Dodgers are 40-11 in their last 51 Tuesday games
• Dodgers are 43-12 in their last 55 home games
• Dodgers are 53-19 in their last 72 games as a favorite
• Over is 4-1 in Dodgers last 5 overall

Cy Young Candidates Square Off

When two of the best teams in the National League square off, it should always be a good game. When it’s their best pitchers on top of that? Well you know you’re in for a good show.

Dodgers Ace Walker Buehler will square off against Max Fried and while neither has been as flawless as many expected to begin the season, they can turn it on at any point. Start with Buehler, whose two starts against the Rockies and then Reds have been almost identical.

Here are his stat lines:

Buehler vs Rockies: 5 innings, four hits, two walks, five strikeouts and two earned runs

Buehler vs Reds: 5.2 innings, five hits, three walks, four strikeouts and two earned runs

Combined, that’s resulted in a 3.38 ERA, 1.31 WHIP and a 1-0 record. Should he take that next step, he could throw seven scoreless.

Fried on the other hand has legitimately struggled. It started in the season-opener when he threw 5.2 innings but surrendered five runs on eight hits and a walk. His numbers improved in his next start against the Nationals, but again he didn’t make it out of the sixth, going 5.1 innings, giving up seven hits and two runs in another loss.

All told, he’s 0-2 with a 5.73 ERA with a 1.45 WHIP. The Dodgers aren’t exactly the team you want to face though when you’re trying to right the ship.

Freddie’s Faces His Old Team

This is game two of the series, so it’s not as hard as Monday night probably was. Freddie Freeman spent the first 12 years of his career with the Braves, capping his time there with a World Series title.

And of course, on Monday night, Freeman had to live up to a movie script now that he’s in Hollywood.

Before this series Freeman had been great (as expected) for the Dodgers, starting his career in Los Angeles going 12-of-37 with three doubles.

But naturally hit his first home run of the season against his former team in his very first at-bat.

In the series opener, he 1-for-2 with two walks and two runs scored. Just the emotion that he provides the crowd while facing his former team is enough to provide extra firepower in this series.

X-factors to Watch

Mookie Betts hasn’t been Mookie Betts of late. Since hitting .346 and winning MVP with Boston in 2018 he’s watched his batting average drop every season, all the way to .264 last year (and entering this series he’s hitting just .206 this season). The Dodgers lineup is deep, but they need Betts, who is on a 12-year $365 million contract to improve.

For Atlanta, the offense hasn’t been great this year, so we’re looking for a lefty who can do some damage against right-handed pitching. That’s Matt Olson, who’s been their best player this season.

Olson is hitting .421 with a 1.235 OPS entering the series (both of which are top six in all of baseball), so he will need to be productive if the Braves are going to knock Buehler out of this game.

How to Watch Braves vs Dodgers