Starting Pitchers to Bet and Fade in April

Apr 6, 2014

With the 2014 Major League Baseball season entering the month of April, the experts at Pro Edge Sports wanted to provide a list of starting pitchers who sports bettors should either be bet on or fade throughout the month.  In order to qualify, each starting pitcher must have made at least ten starts over the last three seasons.

Starting Pitchers Worthy of an Investment in April:

  • Bartolo Colon: 9-3
  • Kevin Correia: 10-5
  • Jason Hammel: 13-3
  • Clayton Kershaw: 11-5
  • Kyle Lohse: 11-4
  • Ivan Nova: 8-4
  • C.C. Sabathia: 11-5
  • Matt Scherzer: 11-5
  • James Shields: 13-4
  • Jered Weaver: 9-3

With respect to the “good” April pitchers listed above, C.C. Sabathia is off to a terrible start in 2014. Sabathia is 0-1 with a 9.00 ERA and 1.50 WHIP after getting hit hard in his first outing.  Bartolo Colon also had a disappointing outing wherein he garnered a 4.50 ERA and 1.50 WHIP in six innings of work.  James Shields is also coming off a middling performance wherein he posted a 4.26 ERA and 0.95 WHIP in his first start.

Starting Pitchers Who Should be Avoided in April:

  • Mark Buehrle: 5-11
  • Gavin Floyd: 5-10
  • Philip Hughes: 4-8
  • Edwin Jackson: 5-11
  • Mat Latos: 4-9
  • Joe Saunders: 5-10

Both Gavin Floyd and Mat Latos started the season on the disabled list, and neither pitcher is expected to see action in April.  Meanwhile, Philip Hughes continued to struggle in the month of April as he posted a 7.20 ERA and 1.60 WHIP in his first start of the season (5 IP; 7/1 K/BB ratio). With that said, we project a very strong year from Hughes and would not be surprised if he posted an ERA of under 3.75 in 2014.  Texas southpaw Joe Saunders continues to find employment despite his pedestrian skill set that has implosion written all over it.  Sure enough, Saunders was rocked in his opening start this season against Tampa Bay where he compiled a 9.82 ERA and 2.45 WHIP in four innings of work (4/3 K/BB ratio).

We hope you find this list helpful recommend incorporating it into your daily handicapping methodology for the month of April.  Pro Edge will provide similar lists for the upcoming months and look forward to making money together on the diamond this year.