The Oakland Athletics will take on the Seattle Mariners on Friday night. It's time to continue our MLB odds series and make an Athletics-Mariners prediction and pick.
Both of these teams are in the middle of disappointing seasons. Everyone expected the Athletics to have a bad year, but no one projected them to be quite as bad as they are. Oakland has a legitimate case for being the worst team in all of baseball with a 25-53 record. The Mariners have been significantly better than the Athletics, but they still haven't lived up to expectations. Seattle is currently 37-41, a record that currently has them 12.5 games out of first place in the AL West. Regardless of the records at play, this should be an entertaining matchup, so let's get into the pick.
Courtesy of FanDuel, here are the Athletics-Mariners MLB odds.
MLB Odds: Athletics-Mariners Odds
Oakland Athletics: +1.5 (-130)
Seattle Mariners: -1.5 (+108)
Over: 8 (-114)
Under: 8 (-105)
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Why The Athletics Could Cover the Spread
The Athletics should benefit from playing on the road in this game. Oakland's lineup has actually been much better when they play away from home, as they earn a higher batting average, slugging percentage, OBP, and OPS when they play on the road. Starting pitcher James Kaprielian has also been a little bit better on the road, putting up a lower ERA, and batting average allowed when he pitches away from home.
It helps that the Mariners have struggled to cover in games like this one. Seattle is 13-19 against the spread when they enter the contest as a favorite, and they're 17-20 ATS through all of their games at home. In the 23 games the Mariners have played as home favorites, they've only managed to cover the run line nine times. Seattle has been terrible at covering in games just like this one, and that should provide the Athletics with some hope as they head into this game.
Why The Mariners Could Cover the Spread
Seattle is lucky enough to face Oakland starter James Kaprielian here. Kaprielian has a legitimate argument for being the worst starting pitcher in the MLB, as he's earned an abysmal 5.88 ERA and a 1.44 WHIP on the year. Those numbers are horrible, and they got even worse over Kaprielian's last seven starts. In that span, the righty earned a 6.62 ERA and a 1.53 WHIP. In his first outing against the Mariners this year, Kaprielian got rocked for five runs over five innings. A similar performance here wouldn't surprise anyone.
The Mariners have a far higher caliber of pitcher taking the hill for them in this game. Marco Gonzales has been fantastic this season, posting a 3.31 ERA and a 1.31 WHIP. He pitched against the Athletics fairly recently and managed to get through seven innings of work while only allowing a couple of runs. It's no surprise he had success against Oakland, as the Athletics are easily the worst offense in the MLB. They rank dead last in batting average, OBP, OPS, and slugging percentage, so Gonzales shouldn't have too much trouble dealing with them in this game.
Final Athletics-Mariners Prediction & Pick
This is an easy pick. The Athletics are generally difficult to trust, but Kaprielian's presence makes it near impossible. Lock in Seattle to win and cover easily here.
Final Athletics-Mariners Prediction & Pick: Seattle Mariners -1.5 (+108)
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