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Posted at 11:30 AM EST. Odds subject to change.

Washington -1½ over Toronto

1:35 PM EST. Welcome back, Alek Manoah (RHP -  TOR), as he is expected to make his first start of 2024 this afternoon. Manoah notably imploded last season as he went from one of the best young pitchers in baseball to a complete dumpster fire with his conditioning and commitment coming into question. In the offseason, Manoah said all the right things, he lost weight, and he came to camp ready to silence the doubters. Instead, he struggled with right shoulder inflammation and has spent the start of the season in the minors, mostly at Triple-A Buffalo, where, through four starts, the results are not good, as he has a bloated 6.50 ERA backed by an equally ugly 1.57 WHIP. Perhaps Manoah has worked through all his issues, but he’s an extremely risky SP to back until he shows something positive at the MLB level.

As for the Nationals, they will send MacKenzie Gore (RHP - WAS) to the bump for his seventh start of the season, and you can count him among the young arms looking at a breakout year, as he has posted career-bests with a 7% BB, 29% K%, 21% K-BB%, 14.2% SwK, and a 3.25 xERA in 31 IP. In his last start on Tuesday in Texas, Gore gave up just two earned runs while striking out seven with just one free pass in 5 IP. Gore brings a solid 3.19 ERA that is backed by an even more solid xERA of 2.70 into this start and there is still room for growth, as his Batting Average of Balls in Play is a bloated .392 while his strand rate is a touch high at 80.6%. In short, Gore cannot be a coin flip to Manoah, and we’re going for the kill. Nats on the run line is our play.

Sherwood

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