Top MLB Team Totals Odds & Picks for Monday, April 11 (2022)
It was an electrifying opening weekend of baseball, and it carries over to a Monday with 12 games on the docket. There are nine new series starting today, with six teams finishing up four-game sets before heading onto their next destination. There are plenty of betting options on the board, but here are my top three team total bets for Monday:
(Odds courtesy FanDuel & Unibet)
Pittsburgh Pirates O/U 3.5 Total Runs
The Pirates earned their first win of the season on Sunday afternoon by defeating the Cardinals 9-4 at Busch Stadium. St. Louis is up 2-1 in the series, and they'll send Dakota Hudson to the mound to make his season debut. The Pirates will counter with Zach Thompson in this matchup set for 2:15 ET.
Dakota Hudson only made one start in 2021 and went 5.0 innings of shutout baseball against the Cubs on October 1st, 2021. The right-hander made eight starts in the shortened 2020 season and posted a 2.77 ERA with a 1.00 WHIP over 39.0 innings.
Hudson has found success against the Pirates lineup. He's limited them to a .143/.360/.161 slash line over 35 at-bats in his career. Pittsburgh's offense has a lot of question marks heading into the season. Some guys are capable of spraying it around the yard, but for the most part, they're going to struggle offensively this season. They've scored 11 runs over three games against St. Louis and have been shut out once. Look for Hudson to limit the Bucs early in this game before handing it over to a well-rested bullpen with all of their top arms available for the series finale. Take the under on Pirates runs in this one.
Bet: Under Pittsburgh Pirates 3.5 Total Runs (-130 via Unibet)
Minnesota Twins O/U 4.5 Total Runs
The Twins won 10-4 on Sunday and found themselves in the win column for the first time this season. Dylan Bundy gets the nod for Minnesota this afternoon while the Mariners counter with Chris Flexen. The first pitch is set for 7:40 ET in the final game of the series.
Chris Flexen is a 27-year-old righty coming off a 2021 campaign where he posted a 3.61 ERA and 1.25 WHIP over 31 starts with the M's. We saw an uptick in both numbers away from home last season, where his ERA climbed to 4.06, and his WHIP increased to 1.34.
The Twins have found success against Flexen, slashing .338/.338/.521 over 41 at-bats. Byron Buxton is 3-3 against him with a home run and a double, while Carlos Correa is 4-9 and Luis Arraez is 3-5. This season, Minnesota's offense will be one of the more dangerous ones in baseball, especially if they can get an entire season out of Buxton. The start center fielder is already off to a great start with three long balls over his first three games. The final factor is that there is expected to be a 13.0 mph wind blowing out to center field at first pitch. I like the Twins to score at least five runs in their series finale against the Mariners at home.
Bet: Over 4.5 Minnesota Twins Total Runs (-110 via FanDuel)
Miami Marlins O/U 4.5 Total Runs
The Marlins lost two out of three to the Giants over the weekend and head to Anaheim to take on the Angels next. This past weekend, the Halos won just one of four games at home against the Astros. Elieser Hernandez goes for the Marlins while the Angels have Michael Lorenzen making his Los Angeles debut. This one's set for 9:38 ET at Angel Stadium.
Lorenzen is a 30-year-old right-hander that pitched with the Reds last season and came over via free agency on a one-year, $6.75 million contract. The righty pitched in 27 games in 2021 and posted a 5.59 ERA and 1.38 WHIP. He's only started 26 games in his career, with 21 of those starts coming back in 2015. But Los Angeles feels he's capable of moving into the rotation for them as he rounds out the starting five.
The Marlins are coming off of a series where they could only score nine runs over three games against the Giants. That's the 25th most runs scored by a team this season. They're 21st in team OPS at .613 after the first weekend of play and have the 12th most strikeouts this season (29). Miami's current roster has faced Lorenzen in 39 at-bats and collected just five hits. Their team slash line is .147/.206/.177 against the right-hander, and they only have one XBH. Lorenzen should be able to find success in his Angels debut and limit the Marlins early in the game before turning it over to the bullpen. Take the under on Miami runs in this Monday night matchup.
Bet: Under Miami Marlins 4.5 Total Runs (-120 via FanDuel)
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Trenton Pruitt is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Trenton, check out his archive.