With less than 20 games left in the MLB regular season, the San Diego Padres will attempt to bolster their NL Wild Card chances as they travel to the desert to take on the Arizona Diamondbacks. It is time to take an exclusive sneak peek at our MLB odds series, where our Padres-Diamondbacks prediction and pick will be revealed.
Standing at 78-65 through their first 143 games of the season, the Padres battled with the Dodgers the best they could before it became clear that a Wild Card spot was a more realistic destination in 2022. Now in a fight to the finish to hold off other NL teams for the final playoff slot that they currently hold, the Padres need as many games in the win column as they can get. After losing in three of their previous four games, San Diego will send out the southpaw in Sean Manaea, who is 7-8 with a 5.23 ERA in his 25 starts on the year.
After losing a whopping 110 games in 2021, the D-Backs now sit only eight games under .500 at 67-75. With a 38-36 winning record at home, Arizona decided to call up righty Drey Jameson from Triple-A to make his first-ever MLB start. At the Triple-A level, Jameson struck out 109 batters in his 114 innings pitched.
Here are the Padres-Diamondbacks MLB odds, courtesy of FanDuel.
MLB Odds: Padres-Diamondbacks Odds
San Diego Padres: -1.5 (-106)
Arizona Diamondbacks: +1.5 (-113)
Over: 9 (-112)
Under: 9 (-108)
Why The Padres Could Cover The Spread
Whether you can believe it or not, the Padres have hit a slight bump in the road over their last several games played. In fact, San Diego only has four wins in their previous ten games combined. Despite this, the larger sample size of the 2022 San Diego Padres suggests that they will break out of their mini-slump at some point. Because of these recent struggles, San Diego sits only two games up on the Brewers for the final Wild Card spot.
In order to get back on track with a spread-covering win on the road in Arizona, San Diego needs to get back to the basics. For starters, the Friars need far more production from their generational hitting outfielder in Juan Soto. Over the course of his previous 14 games, not many batters have been as bad as Soto at the plate. Overall, Soto has gone just 3-44 (.068) over that span and has batted .209 with a .330 slugging percentage since arriving from Washington. Clearly, the Padres will need him not only tonight but down the stretch if they want their playoff dreams to come true.
Not to mention, but San Diego would love for lefty Sean Manaea to return to his once old form. Like Soto, Manaea has struggled most recently in his last two starts and has given up 14 runs in 8 1/3 innings pitched over that span. Manaea is far from a scrub and has had incredible highs throughout his career. The good news is that the 30-year-old southpaw has been solid historically against the D-Backs with a 2-0 record in four career starts to go along with a 2.88 ERA.
Why The Diamondbacks Could Cover The Spread
Coming into the season, expectations on the Diamondbacks were certainly not very high, but believe it or not, they have improved greatly from where they were at a season ago. A big reason for this dramatic change in success has been in large part due to numerous hitters on this roster improving their game from last year. Believe it or not, Arizona has generated the 13th-most runs in the league and has also clubbed their way to a respectable .389 slugging percentage. While the D-Backs still are trying to find a way to get back over the .500 mark, many positives can be taken away from how well they have played this season. Don't be shocked if first-baseman Christian Walker changes the course of the game with one swing of the bat, as he leads the club with 32 long-balls and 79 RBIs on the season thus far.
While swinging the lumber would do wonders for the Diamondbacks to cover the spread against the Padres in tonight's NL West showdown, all eyes will be on the former 2019 first-round pick in 25-year-old Drey Jameson. Rated as the ninth-best prospect in the Diamondbacks organization, this high-profile matchup against a Padres team with playoff aspirations will be a great test for Jameson to prove himself that he belongs in the show.
Final Padres-Diamondbacks Prediction & Pick
Emotions will certainly be running high when Jameson takes the mound later this evening, but don't be fooled. The 25-year-old newcomer still experienced his fair share of bumps in the road as he was only 5-12 with a 6.95 ERA during his time at Triple-A. Not to mention, but the Padres are also 11-4 this season versus Arizona. Don't make the wrong decision here.
Final Padres-Diamondbacks Prediction & Pick: Padres -1.5 (-106)
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