Offshore wagering favors the Los Angeles Dodgers on opening day as they play the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Dodgers will be sending Vicente Padilla to the mound in their opener and even though Padilla is not a superstar, the Dodgers are still favored at online wagering companies.
Offshore wagering lists the Dodgers as a slight favorite to win the National League West this season. Those odds are very volatile though because the Dodgers pitching staff is a question. Padilla was not expected to be the starter on opening day for the Dodgers. Los Angeles didn’t even have him on the roster until late last season. He pitched well though down the stretch and he was very good in the playoffs.
He will be followed in the rotation by Clayton Kershaw, Chad Billingsley and Hiroki Kuroda. The Dodgers start the season on the road and won’t open up at home until April 13th. Kershaw would get the start in that game if things stay on schedule.
The starting rotation for the Dodgers is definitely not the strength of the team. Padilla was definitely not expected to be the #1 starter. “We just had to pick somebody, and he was the one,” manager Joe Torre said. “Am I going to say he is better than the other guys? I can’t do that. We just decided to line them up that way. … Again, we have four guys where I think you can put their names in a hat and just take it out.” Padilla was very good last season down the stretch in baseball offshore wagering.
He was 4-0 with a 3.20 ERA in seven starts and one relief appearance. He was excellent in the playoffs in his first two starts allowing a run on eight hits over 14 1/3 innings against St. Louis and Philadelphia. He was ripped for six runs in three innings in Game 5 of the National League Championship Series.
The Dodgers had the top ERA in the league a year ago and pitching was one of their strengths. They are not going to be as good this season. They lost Randy Wolf in the off-season and he is a huge loss. Los Angeles still has some talent in the rotation and they have Jonathan Broxton as the closer so they will still be good in terms of ERA. Do they have the pitching to win the National League West though? If Padilla is the number one starter the answer at online wagering companies may be no.
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