Nothing beats winning – the grass is a little greener, the sky’s a little bluer, and your smile’s a little wider. Why, even Stephen A. Smith seems to make more sense.
One way for baseball bettors to widen their smiles is with a pitcher who is chalking up dubyas left and right, like these five hurlers who have made cashing winning wagers a lot of fun in 2024.
1 Ranger Suarez – Philadelphia Phillies
Anytime a pitcher begins a season cashing winning tickets at top sportsbooks his first 10 times out, he’s going to quickly become a favorite with bettors, just like Philadelphia’s Ranger Suarez has done.
The unbeaten start to 2024 ended in his 11th assignment, but Suarez still has any bettors following him up close to 8½ units, and his 0.81 ERA leads all of baseball. The southpaw is also turning a small profit for ‘under’ bettors (4-7 O/U).
Ranger Suarez stats from his last 7 games:
48.0 IP | 28 H | 4 ER | 9 BB | 47 K | 2 HR | 0.75 ERApic.twitter.com/znbXjpiVFE
— Phillies Tailgate (@PhilsTailgate) May 21, 2024
For those of us who grew up watching Sandy Koufax, Bob Gibson and Juan Marichal pitch, the nearly 7 IP per start that Suarez is averaging seems a bit pedestrian. But it’s an outstanding number these days, and a big improvement from last year when Suarez barely worked 5 IP/start.
With Philadelphia’s offense clicking on all cylinders, Suarez appears poised to do his bit in getting the Phillies back to the NLCS for a third consecutive year.
2 Seth Lugo – Kansas City Royals
He never could find a permanent role in New York where the Mets bounced him between the bullpen and rotation over the course of seven unfulfilled seasons. Then came a 10-year deal in San Diego where the results were good, but nothing spectacular.
Now in his ninth big-league season and playing in Kansas City where he signed a fat little contract this past winter, Seth Lugo seems to have found a home. The Royals are 8-3 in Lugo’s 11 starts so far, good enough for 5+ units of profit for anyone following on the MLB odds.
Lugo heads a KC pitching staff that is fourth in the AL in ERA and the stingiest at serving up long balls. Most preseason predictions had the Royals third or fourth in the AL Central, but they are instead challenging Cleveland for the lead.
And to think, the Mets felt better off with Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer heading into 2023 than with Lugo. By the way, where are Verlander and Scherzer these days?
3 Chris Sale – Atlanta Braves
Americans love a good comeback story, which means they should all love Chris Sale who it seems has been on the comeback trail often thanks to numerous injuries.
The offseason deal that sent Vaughn Grissom to Boston for Sale is heavily in the Braves’ favor. Grissom’s season was slowed by illness, and is hitting under .200 in limited action for the Red Sox. Meanwhile, Sale is 8-1 with an NL-leading 2.11 ERA as of Memorial Day.
Sale is lasting an out into the seventh on average, and the Braves have only lost twice in his 10 assignments. Even with the thick chalk Atlanta draws, it’s good enough for nearly 4½ units of profit along with a little extra change for ‘under’ bettors (3-6-1 O/U/P).
4 Logan Allen – Cleveland Guardians
That 4.89 ERA and 1.45 WHIP have many avoiding Logan Allen as an MLB pick, and while the 7-4 record (+1.85 units) is nice, it’s certainly nothing to write home about.
First, let’s make sure we’re all talking about the correct Logan Allen. In this case, it’s Logan Allen the left-handed starter for Cleveland and not Logan Allen the left-handed reliever for Arizona who used to pitch for Cleveland.
No, Allen wouldn’t be anyone’s pick to start Game 7 of the World Series. Still, Allen has been a big contributor for Steven Vogt, who is in his first year on the top step of Cleveland’s dugout.
Despite just 3 quality starts among his 11 trips to the bump, Allen has gotten through the fifth inning 8 times, and that’s plenty for turning things over to a spectacular relief corps headed by Emmanuel Clase.
When coupled with a Cleveland lineup that is second in the AL in scoring, that 4.89 ERA is also contributing to a surplus of ‘over’ winners when Allen starts (9-2 O/U).
5 Ronel Blanco – Houston Astros
There are a couple of reasons why Houston’s Ronel Blanco has been a fun fellow to follow for yours truly. For starters, it’s mildly amusing just to throw the Astros in the face of self-righteous friends whose small minds immediately conjure up a plastic garbage can.
That’s even more entertaining now with Blanco after he got caught being naughty with extra stickum on his glove.
It’s also fun because Blanco is turning a profit. Houston has won 8 of his 9 starts, adding more than 6½ units of black ink to bettors’ bankrolls, and you can add nearly another 7 units to that for anyone playing the ‘under’ when Blanco takes the mound.
After serving his sentence for having a “foreign substance” – I can almost hear Gaylor Perry laughing from his grave – on his glove, Blanco delivered a strong outing in his first start back with 7 innings of 1-run, 4-hit baseball to cash as a -155 pick.
6 innings for Ronel Blanco in his return to the Astros from suspension.
He allowed 1 run off a HR. He had 6Ks and no walks. pic.twitter.com/vN6MEQgxZP
— Michael Schwab (@michaelschwab13) May 26, 2024
That was his longest outing since tossing no-hitting the Blue Jays in his first start of 2024. Maybe he should thank the umpires for the extra rest.
