The Boston Red Sox are catching some disrespect on a Monday in the Motor City.
After a thrilling 4-3 victory over the New York Yankees on “Sunday Night Baseball,” the Sox hit the highway again for the first of three games against the up-and-coming Detroit Tigers. Oddsmakers opened the game as a pick ’em — each team was -110 — and the betting market has shifted ever so slightly toward Boston.
The Sox are now -114 at most American sportsbooks with a total of 9.5. This will be the first glimpse of new Red Sox right-hander Michael Wacha in a game that actually matters. It’s clear the market wants to see Wacha prove something before putting respect on his name.
“Michael Wacha hasn’t been a reliable starter for three years,” one Las Vegas oddsmaker told NESN. “He’ll have to string some solid outings together before the books treat him like an above-average pitcher. The reality is that Wacha has four wins in his last 30 starts.
“Wacha gave up four homers in spring training and his velocity has definitely been an issue since his last year or two in St. Louis. And throwing shoulders don’t generally appreciate over time.”
I understand the negativity around a guy who posted a 5.05 ERA and 1.31 WHIP last season, not to mention a 6.62 ERA and 1.56 WHIP the year before. But this Red Sox lineup is facing young, unproven 24-year-old righty Matt Manning, who should struggle against the big, bad Boston bats.
It feels weird to type this out, but I have more concerns about Manning against the Red Sox than I do with Wacha against the Tigers. Manning went five innings or less in 12 of his 18 starts in 2021 and he routinely gave way to a below-average Detroit bullpen.
Odds are good that both starters don’t last long and this turns into a ‘pen game. If that’s the case, I like the Red Sox even more. Boston’s bullpen has allowed only one run in 13 innings. Obviously, that’s an extremely small sample size, but Detroit’s bullpen is nothing special.
I get the better team, better lineup and better bullpen at basically a coin flip? Come on. Respected bettors clearly like the Tigers this year — they were very small underdogs in all three games vs. Chicago — but I’m not buying the day-to-day hype on a team whose rotation is still a year or two away.
Let’s buy low on Wacha and take the Red Sox at a bargain price.
Red Sox -114
RECORD: (110-103, +34.1)
