Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Oakland Athletics Best Bet: Can Freddie Freeman Get Hot Tonight?
The Los Angeles Dodgers and the Oakland Athletics play the last game in their series. Can Freddie Freeman get hot tonight? Ben Rajavuori shares his best bet for the game.
Ben Rajavuori - August 3, 2023, 4:37 PM EDT
5 minLos Angeles Dodgers vs. Oakland Athletics Best Bet: Can Freddie Freeman Get Hot Tonight?
The nightcap on this Thursday night slate features the series finale of the Los Angeles Dodgers and Oakland Athletics series. This series has not been much of a surprise, as the Dodgers are one of the best teams in the MLB, and they have beaten up the Athletics, one of the worst teams in the MLB. The Dodgers won game one 7-3 and won game two last night by a score of 10-1. Tonight, the Dodgers are -310 to win again, but I am more interested in one specific player.
Dodgers vs. Athletics Date, Time, and Where to Watch
- Date: August 3, 2023
- Time: 10:10 pm ET
- Where to Watch: MLB.TV
Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Oakland Athletics Prediction
The Athletics send out another lefty for the series finale in JP Sears, who enters this start with a 4.09 ERA. While Sears has been serviceable for the Athletics this season, multiple Dodgers hitters have a great matchup against Sears, and perhaps none of them match up better than Freddie Freeman.
Sure, that sounds backward because, usually, lefty-on-lefty matchups favor pitchers, but that is not the case here on either side. Freddie Freeman has an identical batting average against left-handed pitchers and right-handed pitchers, with a .338 average against both, but his OPS is actually HIGHER against lefties. He has a 1.080 OPS against lefties and a .967 against righties. He also takes way fewer walks against lefties, which is always nice when betting on-base totals (nothing is more annoying than when your guy takes walks when you have his bases prop). Freddie actually has MORE home runs (11) against lefties than against righties (10) despite only having 130 at-bats against lefties and 293 against righties.
On the other side, the same can be said for Sears. Usually, left-handed pitchers love their matchups against lefty hitters, but Sears has actually been worse against lefty batters this season. Right-handed batters are only hitting .206 off Sears with a .689 OPS, but left-handed batters are hitting .300 with a .852 OPS off Sears. His strikeout rate is also much lower against lefties.
Freddie Freeman has been the toughest out for the Athletics in this series so far. Freddie is 7 for 9 in this series with three extra-base hits. Not only has Freddie been hot in this series, but he has been an over 1.5 bases machine lately. In his last 14 games, Freddie has recorded at least two bases in 10 of them. He has been on fire, and there is no reason he should slow down against Sears tonight in Los Angeles. Also, make sure to bet this one over on DraftKings because he is -120 to go over 1.5 on FanDuel, but a much better +105 on DraftKings.
Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Oakland Athletics Best Bet
Pick: Freddie Freeman Over 1.5 Bases +105 is currently the best odds. Click here to see which sportsbook has the best odds for this pick
MLB Odds
