Free Picks: Los Angeles Dodgers vs Colorado Rockies

Jordan Horrobin
By: Jordan Horrobin
04/01/2021
MLB Free Picks – Best Bets of the Week
Dodgers vs Rockies Week 1
Los Angeles Dodgers vs Colorado Rockies, MLB, Coors Field

Clayton Kershaw will make his franchise record ninth opening day start for the Los Angeles Dodgers (0-0) as they take on their National League West divisional foe, the Colorado Rockies (0-0). The Rockies counter with starter German Marquez, who has found plenty of success through nine career appearances against the Dodgers, posting a 2.54 ERA in that span. The Rockies have won exactly one playoff game in the past 11 years, while the Dodgers have reached the World Series three times in the past four years.

Death, taxes, Kershaw and the Dodgers

For the ninth — and possibly final?! — time, Clayton Kershaw will be on the mound to start on opening day for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Kershaw, a future Hall of Famer, is as synonymous with the Dodger blue as anyone in the history of the franchise, and there’s a very good reason for that: the three-time Cy Young winner hasn’t slowed down.

So it’s no surprise that Kershaw and the reigning champion Dodgers are substantial -227 money line favorites (Betway) on the latest MLB odds entering Thursday’s matchup with the host Colorado Rockies. After all, the Dodgers do have the shortest odds to repeat as World Series winners this fall (+350 at Betway).

But we’re not focused on that right now. One game at a time, right? Let’s just take a closer look at what Thursday has in store.

On one side, we’ve got Kershaw and a free-swinging offense that had the second best team OPS (.821) in the majors a season ago. With a pair of former MVPs (Cody Bellinger, Mookie Betts) and a bunch of other fearsome bashers (Corey Seager, Will Smith, Edwin Rios, etc.), there really aren’t any holes in this lineup.

As for Kershaw, the “hole” you might point to is his poor showing this past spring. The 33-year-old posted a 10.22 ERA in four starts. Then again, we’re talking about a guy who pitched to a 2.16 ERA last season and has the lowest career ERA among all active hurlers (2.43). He’s probably fine.

Opposite Kershaw and the Dodgers is German Marquez and the Rockies. They traded away one of the game’s elite third basemen this offseason in Nolan Arenado, not long after he won his eighth Gold Glove in eight seasons. He also owns a career 121 OPS+ and five top-10 MVP finishes in the past six seasons. His presence in the middle of the lineup will be thoroughly missed.

Marquez has been strong against the Dodgers of late, including a seven-inning, two-run outing when he last faced them in September. But let’s not overthink this BetPicks prediction, folks … the Dodgers are definitely the team to roll with here.

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FREE PICK: LOS ANGELES DODGERS MONEY LINE
-227

Stats

  • Los Angeles is 7-3 on the money line in its past 10
  • The OVER has cashed in six of the Dodgers’ past 10 games
  • Colorado is 4-6 on the money line in its past 10
  • The OVER has cashed in five of the Rockies’ past eight games

Jordan Horrobin is a freelance sports journalist based in Toronto, Ontario, who enjoys sports-related research and telling engaging stories. His work can also be found at Sportsnet, Forbes and elsewhere. Though he abandoned most of his team-specific fandoms in the interest of unbiased analysis, Jordan roots hard for his fantasy football/hockey teams (and he's a complete homer for all things Ohio University).

MLB - AL East

TeamWLGB%
NY Yankee61250.0.709
Boston474014.5.540
Tampa Bay464015.0.535
Toronto454216.5.517
Baltimore434418.5.494

 

MLB - AL Central

TeamWLGB%
Minnesota48400.0.545
Cleveland42424.0.500
Chi White Sox41445.5.482
Detroit365111.5.414
Kansas City345213.0.395

 

MLB - AL West

TeamWLGB%
Houston56290.0.659
Seattle454212.0.517
Texas404415.5.476
LA Angels384919.0.437
Oakland295928.5.330

 

MLB - NL East

TeamWLGB%
NY Mets54330.0.621
Atlanta52362.5.591
Philadelphia46418.0.529
Miami414412.0.482
Washington305824.5.341

 

MLB - NL Central

TeamWLGB%
Milwaukee48390.0.552
St. Louis47422.0.528
Pittsburgh375011.0.425
Chi Cubs345213.5.395
Cincinnati325415.5.372

 

MLB - NL West

TeamWLGB%
LA Dodgers56290.0.659
San Diego50387.5.568
San Francisco434112.5.512
Arizona384818.5.442
Colorado384919.0.437

 

2021 Season Key Dates
Regular SeasonApril 1 – October 3
MLB DraftJuly 11-13
All-Star GameJuly 13
Trade DeadlineJuly 30
Playoffs BeginOctober 5
World SeriesOctober 26