Rockies @ Padres Predictions: Yu to go big on K's

Sort of like their National League West adversaries, the San Diego Padres have been having a rough go of it when it comes to players being forced to miss time.

While much more short-term, the Padres were forced to send Fernando Tatis Jr. and Wil Myers to the injury list with COVID-19, while also missing Jurickson Profar and Jorge Mateo.

But that didn’t seem to impact the Padres, as they have won all but one contest since being without some of their star players, including a three-game weekend sweep against the St. Louis Cardinals. Over those games, the Padres management played things well, optimizing double switches at times. It was true National League baseball that baseball purists loved.

The Padres are as advertised and one of the best teams in baseball. Their games against the Los Angeles Dodgers have been must-see television.

The same can’t be said for the Colorado Rockies. They’re just 2-14 on the road this season and 4-12 against the spread.

Yu Darvish takes the hill for the Padres with a 3-1 record and a 2.08 ERA. The Padres are also 7-1 when Darvish starts. 

For this one, I’m going with the Padres on the run line, -1.5 at +115.

For a prop bet, I’m taking Darvish over 8.5 strikeouts. He’s been on a tear this season and is in position to lead the Padres to the NL Pennant.

If the Padres can continue to win without their top players, that will just boost the value of those replacement guys for the club, allowing them to maybe move some pieces for a bigger piece around the deadline. The Padres have done a solid job at not losing games they shouldn’t.

The Padres will likely be without Tatis Jr. and Myers for at least a few more days. But after sweeping the NL Central leading Cardinals over the weekend with a less than stellar team coming to town, confidence should be high inside that San Diego clubhouse.