Posted at 10:30 AM EST. Odds subject to change.

Pinnacle +100 BET365 -105 Sportsinteraction -105   888Sport -105

San Francisco +100 over San Diego

4:10 PM EST. The Giants made a late free-agent splash by adding the 2023 National League Cy Young Award winner, Blake Snell, from the rival Padres. However, that is a write-up for another day. Today, San Francisco sends the runner-up to Snell last season, Logan Webb (RHP - SF), to take the honor of the Opening Day nod. Webb has been one of the best pitchers in the National League over the last three years, boasting an elite groundball rate (62.1%) and walking very few hitters with a solid 1.27 BB/9 walk rate and a sparkling 1.07 WHIP.

It’s hard not to look at the Padres and see a team that gave up on its spending spree to buy a World Series after they traded Juan Soto to the Yankees and their refusal to not only sign Snell but let him walk across the street to the Giants. What’s left in San Diego is a lot of what could have been, as Fernando Tatis Jr., who missed all of 2022 and parts of 2023 after a PED suspension, moves full-time to right field from shortstop, while Xander Bogaerts is moving from short to second base to help him deal with a chronic wrist issue that he says is healthier. But what does that really mean?

The Padres already have a couple games under their belts, as they return from South Korea after taking part in that circus series with the Dodgers, which was overshadowed by the latest gambling scandal to hit the sport. The Friars went 1-1 with Los Angeles, as Yu Darvish (RHP - SD) went just 3.2 innings against the Dodgers in a no-decision in South Korea last Wednesday, allowing an unearned run on two hits and three walks while striking out three batters. Darvish got the hook after a 32-pitch third inning, and then it was a bullpen game after that, with the Padres sending out seven relievers to cover 5.1 innings in a 5-2 loss.

Darvish gets the nod here after that short outing, and while there is some life here, there are also cracks with his swing-and-miss rate trending downward every year since its peak of an elite 14.4% in 2020 to a middling 10.7% in 2023. Also concerning is the increase in free passes Darvish handed out last season, with his walk rate rising from 1.71 BB/9 to 2.84 BB/9. Darvish also posted the second-worst WHIP of his 11-year career at 1.30. Darvish cannot be favored over Webb. End of story.

Sherwood

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