Game Day: Friday, June 12th
There are 15 three game-series beginning this evening.and there are certain to be more than a few sweeps. It's a "Reversal of Fortune" weekend. Get swept this weekend and it's going to be heavy heading into the Vernal Equinox on June 21st. I'll be rooting for the sweeps this weekend. It's going to be exciting on Sunday.
Here are four series that I have my eye on:
Marlins at Pirates
The Pirates have been the darlings of the NL Central with MLB most special pitcher, Paul Skenes, and Wonder Boy Konnor Griffin at shortstop but Skenes has lost his shine and Griffin could be a flash in the pan. The Marlins, with Max Meyer and Eury Perez, have a pair of young starters at the top of their rotation that can pitch with Skenes and Ashcraft, and their young shortstop, Otto Lopez, leads the league in batting average. This is a big series. Marlins win two of three and they can steal some thunder from the Pirates. Max Meyer vs. Paul Skenes on Sunday is a great matchup of the two of the games best young pitchers. Marlins sweep the Pirates and they will have to rethink the Sandy Alcantara trade.
Tigers at Guardians
The Guardians have been the better baseball team all season and it was the Guards who made up a 15.5 game deficit last season to take the division title away from Detroit. The Tigers haven't forgotten and find themselves 8.0 games back of Cleveland as we conclude the second week of June. This is a heated rivalry. Tarik Skubal and Casey Mize are both expected to return for this series. The Tigers is going to be strong and deep over the second half and the Guardians, they don't have much depth. A series win for the Tigers would inch them closer to the the top of the division. A sweep would turn the tables with all of the momentum swinging to Detroit.
Braves at Mets
Ronald Acuna Jr. drags up with a hamstring injury right before a big series with the New York Mets. Braves are still without Drake Baldwin and Sean Murphy. The Mets are currently 15 games back of the Braves in the NL East. The Guardians overcame a 15.5 game deficit to win the AL Central last season. The Guards set the all-time record for biggest turn around in MLB history. The Mets could break that record this season having fallen 16 games back of the Braves on Saturday, June 6th. While it is unlikely, a sweep would be a big reversal in momentum and would have the Mets believing.
Rays at Angels
The Angels have some new faces on the bench. They aren't world beaters in any sense, Wade Meckler, Nick Madrigal, Jose Siri, Trey Mancini, they are all underdogs but they all seem to have some fire and some determination that has the Halos glowing. The Angels have played .500 baseball since May 17th. They may be nine games back of the Mariners and seven games out of the wild card but they aren't out of the picture. The Rays refuse to fall from the top of the mountain. They landed a pile driver on the Red Sox earlier this week, a three-game sweep that kept the Rays on top of the AL East but this series with the Angels is precarious. They are out on the West Coast, that ocean has a way to it. The Halos could wobble the Rays. They have three games scheduled with the Dodgers to start the following week. This is a big series for both teams. The Halos don't have a day off and have a seven-game road trip scheduled for next week. If they get swept at home, it could end their season.
The sweep is a powerful pendulum and the weight of a sweep in June is at it's heaviest. There aren't many days off around the league and the days are long. Who is going to get swept this weekend? I'll post it on Monday's Game Day.
It's a full slate of games to begin the week. The Pickstreak blog is most certainly in the hole early this season. We are at the bottom of the trough, down 16.0 percent on our buy-in. We bought in for 50 units and that was the cost to play the game. It's like paying for a vacation or buying into a poker tournament. We paid the entry-fee and it's a sunk cost to play the game. We get the entertainment that comes with making the bets, we get the opportunity to beat the book and take home the satisfaction of proving ourselves as skilled operators and we have the potential to win some money back too. If it all goes to plan, we can earn a return on our investment. That's the goal.
If we can rack some more units into the All-Star break, we'll have an opportunity to beat the book in the second half of the season and to emerge victorious.