Jim Feist Handicapper Review & Free Sports Picks

Monday’s matchup between the Arizona Diamondbacks and Pittsburgh Pirates has very real OVER potential considering both starting pitchers have struggled all season long and both offenses are coming off of high-scoring affairs on Sunday.

Arizona will roll with Merrill Kelly who is 8-8 on the season and has a 5.12 ERA. Kelly has struggled to limit hard contact this season and rarely pitches deep into games. Pittsburgh will send Mitch Keller to the hill who is 6-7 with a 4.90 ERA and 1.31 WHIP. Keller’s struggles against right-handed bats gives Arizona a legitimate chance to manufacture traffic early and often.

Arizona pounded out seven runs on Sunday as Ketel Marte and Geraldo Perdomo homered in Arizona’s 10-7 loss at Washington. The Diamondbacks also plated seven runs in one inning vs. Oakland earlier this week, so this lineup can produce a crooked number in a hurry.

Pittsburgh’s batting order is coming off of a strong showing itself. The Pirates defeated the Cubs 8-7 on Sunday behind Ryan O’Hearn’s grand slam. Pittsburgh has shown much more pop recently than their season long track record indicates.

With both bullpens feeling the fatigue from Sunday’s games, there’s also cause for concern behind each starter. Arizona’s relievers were lit up by Washington who overcame a 4-2 deficit for 10 runs on Sunday. Pittsburgh’s bullpen was forced to protect a one-run lead in their 8-7 victory on Sunday. With shaky starters and exhausted bullpens coming into this game off of both teams Sunday requiring high-scoring efforts, runners should continue to find gaps throughout this game.

Jim's Play: 953. Diamondbacks / Pirates OVER

The New York Yankees and Chicago White Sox might both hit OVER the total Monday as Chicago starter Noah Schultz has been shaky to start the year and New York is likely to roll with Max Fried making his first MLB start back from injury.

Entering Monday, Schultz has a 3-7 record with a 6.04 ERA, setting up a great game plan against New York and its offense that still boasts sluggers Ben Rice, Jasson Dominguez and Paul Goldschmidt. The Yankees scored four runs in their last game Sunday against Philadelphia with Rice adding his 31st homer of the season despite being without several key injured players.

Max Fried sports a 2.97 ERA, but he only pitched five innings in his last rehab start so could be on a pitch count upon his return. That would mean New York will need to lean on its bullpen that allowed five runs Sunday night.

Chicago’s offense is also rolling as it blasted five homers and scored 12 runs in its game Sunday against Houston. Munetaka Murakami accounted for six of those runs himself with two homers while Miguel Vargas and Chase Meidroth added long balls of their own. There’s plenty of power in Chicago’s lineup to do some damage against Fried and the Yankees’ bullpen. Schultz has not been good at limiting damage this season so Fried could potentially pitch into the late innings on a pitch count. Both teams should have plenty of opportunities to score runs in this one.

Jim's Play: 965. Yankees / White Sox OVER

The Washington Nationals have the advantage of the hotter bats entering Monday’s game and they’ll take on Max Scherzer in his banged-up return from the injured list. Scherzer hasn’t pitched since the middle of June due to back spasms, missed time during the All-Star break due to a thumb injury, owns a 1-4 record with a 10.23 ERA and could have his pitch count managed on Monday.

Washington will get some high-leverage opportunities against the Blue Jays’ bullpen even if Scherzer pitches well for a few innings. The Nationals also enter this matchup riding significant momentum, as they cracked 10 runs against Arizona on Sunday. CJ Abrams and James Wood each smoked a pair of homers, while Wood notched his 30th long ball of the season.

Abrams has thrived since the All-Star break and both he and Wood are powerful left-handed bats who can cause damage early in the game against Scherzer. Washington will counter with Andrew Alvarez, who has gone 2-3 with a 4.22 ERA. Alvarez won’t need to be fantastic because Toronto simply hasn’t scored consistently.

The Blue Jays plated just one run Sunday, have dropped seven of their last 10 and hit below .200 against Kansas City this weekend. They’re heading into this series with a negative road record. Toronto is getting some juice based on Scherzer’s track record, but he’s coming off an injury, owns ugly season-long stats and could be pitch-counted by Matzman.

Take Washington to win at home, swinging the hottest bats of the two teams.

Jim's Play: 974. Nationals

Atlanta is coming into this series with a 62-43 record while New York sports a 44-62 record. Most people will look at those records and pick Atlanta. Jim Feist isn’t most people, he’s taking New York today as a very small home dog.

Mets rookie Zac Thornton has been lights out through his first four starts. He carries a 1.93 ERA along with a WHIP of just 0.86. Thornton has surrendered only one earned run during his last 19 innings pitched while stranding batters on base over the last two starts for 13 straight frames of scoreless relief. He also presents a first time look against Atlanta, as the young left-hander has yet to face the Braves in his professional career.

Atlanta will start veteran Martin Perez against Thornton. Perez’s 3.38 ERA doesn’t appear too alarming, but the current Mets team has seen success against him posting a batting average of .304 and an oWAR of .369 over 144 career plate appearances. Expect New York to put guys on base and challenge Perez early in this one.

Let’s not forget how this series is even set up. The Mets stayed at home this weekend and blazed through the Dodgers scoring eight runs in their Sunday win. Meanwhile, Atlanta had to go to Baltimore and pitch into extra innings to win a close 3-2 affair before heading to New York for game one of this series. Atlanta gets set to face a well rested rookie pitcher that they have not seen before in just a matter of hours.

The Mets do not need to be the better team across 162 games. They simply need to be the better team tonight and their pitching matchup, familiarity with Perez and series schedule provide them a real chance to win this game.

Jim's Play: 956. Mets (NL East Game of the Month)