Rockies vs Diamondbacks Prediction Today | MLB Odds, Expert Picks for Monday, May 29
Rockies vs. Diamondbacks Odds
The Diamondbacks will look to bounce back after dropping a three-game set to the Red Sox. Even still, Arizona owns a 6-4 mark in its last 10 games and sits in the top wild-card spot in the NL.
The Backs are priced as massive -198 favorites Monday over the visiting Rockies, who will pitch Karl Kauffman. Kauffman has pitched to a 9.35 ERA and 2.08 WHIP in his first 8.2 innings of the season.
Colorado Rockies
It’s been a disastrous start to Kauffman’s big-league career. He’s allowed nine runs in just 8.2 innings with 13 hits.
It is worth noting that one of those starts came at Coors while the other was against one of the league’s best offenses in the Texas Rangers.
Kauffman has been hard-hit 53% of the time, and he owns an xSLG rate of .592. His xERA is 8.66, and his xFIP is 6.02. Righties have slugged .792, albeit in a tiny 3.2-inning sample size.
In 37 innings this season with Triple-A Albuquerque, Kauffman has also struggled mightily with a 7.78 ERA and a 1.78 WHIP.
Arizona Diamondbacks
Arizona’s speedy young offense has quietly become a problem for the rest of the league. The Diamondbacks are not hitting many home runs, but they can cover up for lesser power in a number of ways.
The Backs’ splits versus right-handed pitching in particular have been quite strong. They own a .330 woba and a wRC+ of 105. Those marks both rank eighth in the league, which is exactly where the D-Backs sit in terms of runs scored per game.
Lourdes Gurriel Jr. seems to be settling in nicely with his new team. He has been on a tear throughout the month of May slugging .747 with an OPS of 1.185. He has terrorized right-handed pitching this season.
Rockies vs. Diamondbacks Betting Pick
Everything about this spot sets up well for Gurriel Jr. to continue his torrid month of May with a productive day at the plate.
As a team, the Diamondbacks are batting well and should likely get close to or surpass their high implied team total. Gurriel should get an extra at-bat much of the time. His splits to righties are incredible, and in a small sample, Kauffman is getting crushed versus righties. I like him to record at least two total bases today.
Looking at Gurriel to record an RBI at +150 is another play that I am looking at, which should likely set up well. Assuming the Diamondbacks are rolling their standard righty lineup, that should be a good number once markets open.
Pick: Lourdes Gurriel Jr. over 1.5 total bases ( +110 Bet365) | Gurriel Jr. over 0.5 RBIs (TBA)
Source: The Action Network
