By Stephen Nover
Brewers plus $1.50 at Dodgers
The National League can’t compare to the American League when it comes to superpowers. The AL has them with the Red Sox, Yankees, Astros and Indians.
When it comes to the NL’s monsters they are the Dodgers, Cubs and Brewers. So any time one of these three teams happens to be a heavy underdog, I have to look in that direction.
This isn’t a play against Dodgers starter Kenta Maeda. I usually won’t go against Maeda at Dodgers Stadium, where he sports a 2.74 ERA. But there’s just too much value to overlook Milwaukee at this plus price. The Brewers have the most victories in the NL and now they’re even better with the additions of Mike Moustakas and Joakim Soria.
The Brewers are in a good ambush spot here and they have an intriguing rookie pitcher going, Freddy Peralta. Milwaukee catches the Dodgers returning home from a 10-game road trip that concluded in Atlanta on Sunday. The Brewers have been on the West Coast since Thursday. It’s the Dodgers who will be making the three-hour time difference.
None of this will matter, though, if Peralta pitches as poorly as he did in his last start when he surrendered seven earned runs in six innings at home against the Nationals this past Wednesday. Peralta can be extremely good. He has 57 strikeouts in 43 1/3 innings. Right-handed batters are hitting only .071 against him. The Dodgers have six righties in their usual lineup. LA also has never faced Peralta giving him a surprise element.
