The Los Angeles Dodgers have the best record in baseball at 11-4, .733, and the best run differential at +44. They’ll look to add to their dominance by bullying the last-place Arizona Diamondbacks in a three-game series at Chase Field.
The Dodgers are 6-1 against teams with losing records so far in 2022, and the loss came to the defending World Series champions, the Atlanta Braves, off to a slow start.
The Dodgers have won 10 of their last 12 and are coming off of winning two of three at San Diego over the weekend. Arizona lost two of three at home to the Mets and are already five and a half games off the pace in the National League West.
Keep reading for a full MLB odds breakdown and two winning baseball betting picks!
Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Arizona Diamondbacks
Monday, April 25, 2022 – 09:40 PM EDT at Chase Field
Dominant Start
The Dodgers beat the Diamondbacks in 16 of the 19 times the two NL West rivals played last season. Los Angeles hasn’t played Arizona yet this season, but the Dodgers have done well against the rest of baseball, leading MLB in record against the spread, matching their 11-4 straight-up mark.
Dodgers pitchers lead MLB in the fewest runs allowed, and the offense is second in baseball in runs scored, two runs behind the Cubs, who have played two more games.
The series is shaping up as a mismatch on paper, although the Dodgers got some tough news on Sunday when pitcher David Price went to the COVID-19 injured list. Despite being vaccinated, Price tested positive and is showing symptoms. Manager Dave Roberts said he was confident the positive test wasn’t the start of a cluster, and he didn’t expect the team to lose anyone else in the near future.
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The team added Reyes Moronta over the weekend. He excelled in the San Francisco bullpen in 2018 and 2019 but has missed most of the last two years with shoulder surgery and a flexor strain.
The Dodgers will start the series with Walker Buehler on the mound. Buehler lost his last outing, to the Braves, in the team’s lone loss to a sub .500 team this year. He gave up eight hits and three runs over five while striking out just two. For the year, he’s 1-1 with a 4.02 ERA.
Reinforcements on the Way?
Arizona has a losing record, but, at 6-10, the start hasn’t been as bad as many feared. Of course, the D-backs also started last season 6-10, then went 46-100 the rest of the way.
The Diamondbacks have a reason for optimism, however. Their relatively competitive start this year came with several key players missing the first few weeks of the season. Those contributors are starting to return to active duty, which should help bolster the team going forward.
Nick Ahmed opened the season on the injured list but returned to the field in the weekend’s Mets series, giving Arizona depth at a key position.
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“You want to have as many shortstops as possible,” manager Torey Lovullo said. He also announced that Geraldo Perdomo, who has filled in at short with Ahmed down, will get reps at third base to help keep him in the lineup.
Outfielder Jordan Luplow has also missed the start of the season with an oblique strain but could return as soon as Monday. Luplow “played seven innings in center field and had six or seven at-bats, and came through that real good,” Lovullo said.
The D-backs will start their ace, Merrill Kelly, on Monday. He gave up his first run of the season in his most recent start—his third—and is 1-0 with an 0.59 ERA.
The Picks
Monday will likely be Arizona’s best chance to get a win in the series. Kelly has been nearly untouchable so far this year. Still, he hasn’t faced this Dodgers lineup, which has been raking all season long. For your MLB picks, look for Los Angeles to roll in a game with runs aplenty, despite the aces on the mound.
MLB Pick: Dodgers ML (-186) with BetOnline (visit our BetOnline Review)
MLB Pick: Over 8 Runs (-105) with BetOnline
*The line and/or odds on picks in this article might have moved since the content was commissioned. For updated line movements, visit BMR’s free betting odds product.
