The San Diego Padres take on the Los Angeles Dodgers. Our MLB odds series has our Padres Dodgers prediction and pick. Find out how to watch Padres Dodgers.
The Los Angeles Dodgers aren't playing dominant baseball, but they are playing good baseball. Shohei Ohtani isn't blasting home runs left and right, but he is collecting a lot of hits and is getting on base for Freddie Freeman. It isn't spectacular or overwhelming, but it is successful. The Dodgers are 10-5 in a division where no other team is at the .500 mark. The Dodgers have won two-thirds of their games without an Ohtani power surge and without healthy frontline starting pitching. Their depth and versatility are big assets over the course of a long regular season. It's in the playoffs where the lack of elite starters gets exposed, as was the case against the Arizona Diamondbacks last year. Over the course of 162 games, the Dodgers find players who contribute, and that has powered them to a solid start in a division which — on paper — could be the toughest in the National League.
The San Diego Padres have been an easy team to understand in the first few weeks of the new season. When the Padres score six or more runs, they regularly win. When they score fewer than five runs, they regularly lose. Their offense is good enough to unleash scoring barrages on opponents, but their pitching is weak enough that it can crater and collapse. San Diego is talented but ultimately inconsistent, and the obvious challenge for the Padres in the early weeks of their season is to cultivate consistently good performances. Last year's team struggled in close games and late-inning situations, but it also was simply an up-and-down team which couldn't stack good games together and get on extended winning streaks. This year's team has already faced that same limitation, and it will be interesting to see if the Padres can get on a roll at some point in the spring so that they aren't fighting an uphill battle in the standings all season long, as they did in 2023.
Here are the Padres-Dodgers MLB odds, courtesy of FanDuel.
MLB Odds: Padres-Dodgers Odds
San Diego Padres: +1.5 (-120)
Los Angeles Dodgers: -1.5 (+100)
Over: 9 (-118)
Under: 9 (-104)
How To Watch Padres vs. Dodgers
TV: MLB (Padres) / SportsNet LA (Dodgers) / MLB Extra Innings
Stream: MLB.tv, ESPN Plus
Time: 9:10 p.m. ET/6:10 p.m. PT
*Watch Padres-Dodgers LIVE on fuboTV (click for a free trial)*
Why The Padres Could Cover The Spread
The Padres are trying to establish themselves as a force in the National League West, something they couldn't do in 2023 after making the National League Championship Series in 2022. This is a motivated team which will be intent on avoiding the season-long malaise which smothered this team last season. You're going to see the Padres play with hunger on Saturday, and what makes their position stronger is that they should be able to tee off on Dodger pitcher Gavin Stone, a guy who is in the Dodger rotation less because of his results than because of the injuries and the lack of availability of better pitchers such as Walker Buehler, who is pitching minor-league rehab assignments right now. The Padres should slam Stone on their way to a high-scoring win.
Why The Dodgers Could Cover The Spread
The Dodgers have been able to mash San Diego pitching on a consistent basis. This goes back multiple years. The Dodgers have the upper hand in this divisional battle. They scored seven runs in the first four innings of Friday night's game. San Diego pitcher Matt Waldron will have a tough time keeping this offense in check.
Final Padres-Dodgers Prediction & Pick
Most MLB games are interesting because of the test to see which team will cover the spread. Occasionally, though, a game cries out for a bet on the total. This is one. Waldron versus Stone feels like a 7-5 or 8-6 game, and the total is only nine runs. This is an over bet.
Final Padres-Dodgers Prediction & Pick: Over 9
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