Category: Sports News

Want to get more Covers content? Add us as a preferred source on your Google account here.

The HR article connected on a Kazuma Okamoto +520 homer in the ninth inning last night in Toronto, and we’re right back at it with two early looks this morning and another to come this afternoon. The MLB player props are still offering plenty of value.

I’m targeting a pair of +475 middle-of-the-order bats in strong matchups at +EV prices: Jake Burger and Brent Rooker. Not an easy day for pitchers dealing with these two.

These are my favorite home run props for Tuesday, March 31.

Best MLB home run props today

Player to hit a HR	Odds
Jake Burger	+475
Brent Rooker	+475

Jake Burger (+475)

Conditions are ideal for power, with 17-mph winds blowing out to left-center and temperatures around 80 degrees — a strong setup for home runs.

Jake Burgergets a premium matchup against Zach Eflin, who is coming off back surgery and posted the second-worst HR/9 among starters with 60+ innings last season. Burger, hitting out of the cleanup spot, is 3-for-7 with a home run against Eflin in his career.

THE BAT projects a fair price around +375, making current numbers appealing.

Betting on the earliest game of the slate is also an easy decision for my MLB picks. 

• Time: 6:35 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: MASN, RSN

Brent Rooker (+475)

I don’t usually put a lot of weight into batter vs. pitcher data given the small samples, but it’s hard to ignore that Brent Rooker has taken José Suárez deep three times in just five at-bats — especially with Rooker sitting at +475.

Rooker had a strong spring and may be off to a slow start, but the power is real. He has legitimate 40-HR upside, which puts him in a rare tier of hitters.

Suárez is more of a bullpen arm being stretched into a starting role because of Spencer Strider's injury, which adds risk. The environment isn’t elite, but 80-degree weather in Atlanta with a total of 9.0 is still solid.

Fair value on this HR prop is closer to +400, and Rooker projects similarly to names like Ronald Acuña Jr., Shea Langeliers, and Austin Riley — all of whom are priced shorter.

• Time: 7:15 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: Braves Vision, Gray TV, NBCSCA

This article originally appeared on Covers.com, read the full article here and view our best betting sites or check out our top sportsbook promos.

Want to get more Covers content? Add us as a preferred source on your Google account here.

The Los Angeles Angels hope to snap a three-game losing streak when they face the Chicago Cubs tonight at Wrigley Field. 

The forecast promises a cold, miserable night, and my Angels vs. Cubs predictions expect LA starter Jose Soriano and his sinker-slider combo to rack up the strikeouts. 

Read on for my MLB picks for Tuesday, March 31. 

Angels vs Cubs predictions

Angels vs Cubs best bet: Jose Soriano Over 4.5 strikeouts (-108)

Jose Soriano is riding a jaw-dropping 41.3% whiff rate from his 2026 opener, where he struck out seven Astros in six innings of work.

This follows a strong spring where the Los Angeles Angels righty struck out 13 across 11 2/3 and eight punchouts per nine frames in 2025. 

The Chicago Cubs lineup presents multiple strikeout candidates, and they’ve struck out in 22% of their 91 plate appearances against right-handed arms in 2026. 

Cold, heavy air at Wrigley Field plays right into Soriano's hard sinker and devastating slider combo. Back him to punch out at least five tonight.

COVERS INTEL: Soriano averaged 3.7 pitches per batter and struck out 8.05 batters per nine in 2025, and seven Astros on Opening Day at Houston.

Angels vs Cubs same-game parlay (SGP)

Cold weather, limited scoring, and the more reliable arm on the mound sum up this three-leg same-game parlay.

Soriano was excellent on the road last season (8-3), and he just threw six scoreless innings in Houston. His 69.2% ground-ball rate limits damage and keeps traffic off the bases.

Jameson Taillon allowed 26 earned runs across 13 1/3 spring innings, and he’s hard to trust right now. In a game where runs will be scarce, that edge on the mound leans toward the Halos.

Angels vs Cubs SGP

• Jose Soriano Over 4.5 strikeouts
• Angels moneyline
• Under 7.5

Angels vs Cubs home run pick: Mike Trout (+310)

Mike Trout doesn't need much of an invitation, and Taillon is practically rolling out the red carpet.

Ten home runs and nine walks in just over 13 spring innings tell you that he is a pitcher who can't find the zone and is getting destroyed when he does. 

Trout has already taken Taillon deep, and the Angels slugger launched two bombs on Opening Day at Houston. I’ll back him to crack one tonight.

Angels vs Cubs odds

• Moneyline: Los Angeles +120 | Chicago -142
• Run line: Los Angeles +1.5 (-188) | Chicago -1.5 (+155)
• Over/Under: Over 7.5 (+116) | Under 7.5 (-142)

Angels vs Cubs trend

The Chicago Cubs have hit the Game Total Under in 64 of their last 117 games (+13.65 Units / 11% ROI). Find more MLB betting trends for Angels vs. Cubs.

How to watch Angels vs Cubs and game info

Angels vs Cubs latest injuries

Angels vs Cubs weather

This article originally appeared on Covers.com, read the full article here and view our best betting sites or check out our top sportsbook promos.

Happy Tuesday, Red Sox Nation. After last night’s ass-whooping at the hands of the Houston Astros, our beloved Red Sox fall to 1-3. I don’t know about you, but the offense feels like it’s been slumping for weeks, even though it’s only four games. Baseball season is a grind, though, and nobody wins 162 games in a row.

So, my question to you is: did you forget that? Are you already frustrated by the lack of hitting with runners in scoring position? Or are you accepting it as statistical noise that happens in small samples?

Talk about early season frustration and whatever else you want here. Be good to one another, and go Sox.

Tonight’s Phillies game will feature one of the most anticipated MLB debuts in recent memory, at least for Philadelphia baseball fans. Top pitching prospect Andrew Painter will finally make his long awaited MLB debut, nearly three years after it was originally anticipated thanks to a torn UCL and Tommy John surgery. 

The Phillies went into the season planning on Painter being their fifth starter, and so far he has seemed up to the task. He made four starts this spring and allowed three runs on seven hits across 11.2 innings with eight strikeouts and two walks. He suffered velocity bleeding as he went on in one of his starts, something that plagued him last season during his rocky year at Triple-A, but he followed that up with a better start where he held his velocity. His much scrutinized fastball shape slowly improved as the spring went on and he flashed impressive improvement on his secondary pitches, most notably his changeup. Overall, his spring didn’t show any reasons to be skeptical but also didn’t show a major reason for optimism. He mostly performed to reasonable expectations. 

Tonight we will get our first look at Painter against a Major League lineup. Granted, Painter and the Phillies could not have asked for a much softer landing for the young righty’s debut, as he will face a Washington Nationals lineup that was a bottom ten offense last season, ranking 20th in runs scored and 23rd in slugging. It’s a new season, but the Nats are once again projected to be one of the worst teams in baseball. However, they did open the season with an upset series win over the Cubs at Wrigley where they scored 18 total runs in three games. 

Every inning Painter throws this season will be heavily scrutinized, for better or worse. His first start will not make or break his season, let alone his career, but it is a chance to set the narrative for the rest of his rookie campaign. So, what are you looking for tonight in Andrew Painter’s debut? What do you need to see to feel good about his prospects going forward? 

Some of you might have taken note of Owen Caissie’s two-run walk-off homer for the Marlins on Sunday.

The other part of that deal, Edward Cabrera coming to the Cubs, also had a very good game for his new team. Cabrera was dominant over six innings, allowing just a walk and a fourth-inning single (and the latter was immediately erased on a double play). The Cubs offense did their job against Angels rookie Ryan Johnson and the result was a satisfying 7-2 win, evening up the Cubs’ early season record at 2-2.

The Cubs got right to work on Johnson in the first inning… or, rather, Johnson couldn’t throw strikes. He walked three of the first four hitters he faced, loading the bases with one out. Nico Hoerner’s sac fly made it 1-0 Cubs [VIDEO].

Runners remained at first and second for Carson Kelly [VIDEO].

Take close note in that clip of PCA running. The ball hasn’t even landed and he is blazing around second base. Eventually PCA scores from first on a bloop single. He’s really been using his speed quite a bit in the early going. That made it 3-0.

The Cubs put three more on the board in the third. With one out, Ian Happ launched his third homer of the season [VIDEO].

About that homer, from BCB’s JohnW53:

Ian Happ is the 20th different Cub since 1901 to hit at least three home runs in his first four games of a season. Gabby Hartnett and Billy Williams did it twice. They are two of the three who hit four homers. The other was Randy Jackson. Happ is the eighth this century, after Sammy Sosa (2002), Derrek Lee (2006), Donnie Murphy (2013), Javier Baez and Jorge Soler (both 2014), Anthony Rizzo (2020) and Seiya Suzuki (2022).

PCA followed that with a single and went to third on a double by Nico.

Moisés Ballesteros singled in both runners to make it 6-0 [VIDEO].

After that, Cabrera continued cruising through the Angels lineup. He struck out five [VIDEO].

Had this been later in the year, Craig Counsell might have let Cabrera throw the seventh. But early on, there are still some pitch limits and Cabrera was removed after 80 pitches (49 strikes). Here’s more on Cabrera’s outing [VIDEO].

Colin Rea relieved Cabrera and the first batter he faced was Mike Trout. Carson Kelly got the second pitch of the at-bat overturned [VIDEO].

Rea completed that at-bat by striking out Trout. One out later, though, Jorge Soler singled and Yoan Moncada hit a Rea mistake for a towering home run that might have had a bit of help from the strong wind blowing out.

The Cubs put their final run on the board in the seventh. Nico led off with a walk, stole second (the Cubs now have six steals this year without being caught) and advanced to third on an infield out.

Dansby Swanson’s single scored Nico [VIDEO].

Rea finished things up, but not until allowing two singles in the ninth, at which point Counsell had Daniel Palencia warming up just in case. Rea responded by striking out the last two hitters, including this K of Moncada to end it [VIDEO].

Rea collects a save since he threw three innings, the Cubs’ first save of 2026.

Here are some postgame comments from Cabrera [VIDEO].

And here are Counsell’s postgame remarks [VIDEO].

Apart from the Moncada homer, the complaint department is closed again.

The Cubs will go for two in a row over the Angels Tuesday evening (weather permitting). Jameson Taillon will start for the Cubs and José Soriano goes for the Angels. Game time is again 6:40 p.m. CT and TV coverage will be via Marquee Sports Network.

Much of the focus X this past offseason centered (as it always seems to) on the Orioles’ ability to upgrade their pitching rotation. Mike Elias and the front office may not have traded for Tarik Skubal or signed a top free agent (Cease, Valdez, Suarez), but they did show a refreshing aggressiveness in adding starting pitchers. They traded for former Rays top prospect Shane Baz (and subsequently signed him to a five-year extension), while bringing in veteran right-hander Chris Bassitt and re-signing 2025 Opening Day starter Zach Eflin.

The identity of the Orioles’ franchise was largely founded on their great rotations in the 60s and 70s. And because of this identity, Baltimore’s relative starting pitching scarcity over the last two decades has often made for plenty of worry, frustration and pessimism throughout Birdland. The 2026 rotation, as undoubtedly the most talented group of starters assembled by Elias, will look to put some of that pessimism to bed as they play a key role in the Orioles’ quest to return to the playoffs.

After last night’s loss against the Rangers, we’ve now seen four of the five make their first start of the 2026 season. After seeing the top four starters in action for the first time, let’s break down the good and the bad from the Orioles best arms.

Trevor Rogers (7.0 IP, 3 H, 4 BB, 5 K vs. MIN)

Grade: A

According to No.2 starter Kyle Bradish, there was never really any doubt that Rogers would be the Orioles’ Opening Day starter. After watching the reigning Most Valuable Oriole march through the Twins order last Thursday, it only confirmed that manager Craig Albernaz made the right decision.

After a magical run that saw him post a 1.81 ERA across 18 starts, there was the lingering question as to whether Rogers could be as effective in 2026. Instead, he was better. The southpaw’s plan of attack was the same as the one he carefully crafted last season: use his four-seamer to attack righties up and in, while pairing it with a low and away changeup to keep hitters off balance. He even showed off some improved velocity on his fastball, touching 95 and 96 in the early innings.

The Orioles’ lefty never relies heavily on his cutter or curveball. However, each time he went to one of his breaking pitches against Minnesota, it seemed perfectly set up and executed—as evidenced by the 50% whiff rate on the curve and 33.3% whiff rate on the cutter.

Rogers’ knack for navigating traffic also showed up in full force versus the Twins. Rogers tied a season-high from 2025 with four free passes, but also set an Orioles career high by rolling three double play balls. Despite not having the same strikeout stuff as Bradish, Rogers excels in pressure situations, as the Twins consistently mustered only weak contact in going 1-for-10 with RISP against the Orioles’ ace. Rogers’ best start from last year saw him pitch eight shutout innings, so the fact that he “only” threw seven scoreless takes him from an A+ down to an A.

Kyle Bradish (4.2 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 4 K vs. MIN)

Grade: C+

Early on in his outing against the Twins, Bradish looked like the dominant force we saw at the end of the 2025 season. He opened the game with a Bradish classic, firing an elevated two-seamer past Kody Clemens to open his 2026 account with a K. He’d punch out Josh Bell in the 2nd on another two-seamer, before burying a slider to get Clemens swinging and end the 3rd.

After those threw scoreless innings, Bradish ran into a bit of bad luck, followed by the effects of the bad weather. In the 4th, Byron Buxton led off the inning by bouncing a curveball up the middle, reaching after just barely beating the throw from Jeremiah Jackson at 2B. Buxton then benefited from some Baltimore defensive blunders, with a bad throw from Colton Cowser in CF allowing him to tag up from first, while a failed back pick by Adley Rutschman allowed him to go to third. The error by Adley would mean Bradish’s first run of the season was unearned, after a sac fly brought Buxton home to score.

Bradish then seemed to run out of gas early Saturday, as he suffered a noticeable dip in velocity and control in the 5th. After sitting around 95mph with his two-seamer in the early innings, his velocity fell to around 91-92 at the beginning of the 5th. Bradish tried to compensate by leaning on his breaking balls, but ended up walking leadoff batter Trevor Larnach after failing to locate his slider. Three pitches later, Bradish tried to challenge Royce Lewis with a two-seamer up and in, but instead it ended up and in the left field bleachers.

It’s worth mentioning that the game time temperature was in the mid-40s, meaning Bradish’s early exit could be due to the difficulties keeping your arm warm that come in cold temperatures. And yet, it’s hard to give him a higher grade, given the loss and the feeling that his afternoon was incomplete.

Shane Baz (5.1 IP, 7 H, 4 ER, 0 BB, 4 K vs. MIN)

Grade: C-

Fresh off the announcement of his five-year/$68M extension, Baz’s first start as an Oriole got off to a rocky start. After a 1-2-3 inning in the 1st, Baz was shelled in the second inning against the Twinkies. After three singles and a bases-clearing double, the 26-year-old right-hander was staring down the barrel of a 4-0 deficit two innings into his career.

From there, Baz showed grit in putting up 3.1 scoreless innings to close out his start, allowing the Orioles offense the time they needed to stage a comeback. The former Ray also showed plenty of promise in grinding out 16 outs against Minnesota. His knuckle curve was especially sharp, limiting Twins hitters to a .167 average while generating two punchouts and a 40% whiff rate. His cutter was equally effective, holding Minnesota batters to a .143 and picking up two Ks on cutters up and away to Buxton and Lewis.

Baz doesn’t grade out as highly as Bradish because, while he did get two more outs, he also gave up that big inning while pitching in more ideal conditions. And yet, like his fellow hard-throwing right-hander, the newest Orioles starter flashed the kind of stuff that suggests better outings are on the horizon.

Chris Bassitt (4.1 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 4 BB, 3 K vs. TEX)

Grade: D

Bassitt tried to pull off the same high-wire act we saw from Rogers, only for his soft contact to turn into soft hits and runs on the board for the Rangers. The 37-year-old veteran got unlucky in his first inning as an Oriole. A pair of singles (that could’ve been outs) turned into a run when an awkward comebacker forced Bassitt to rush a throw home, allowing a run to score as the throw skipped past Adley at the plate.

That unfortunate opening frame turned into further frustration as Bassitt struggled to put away hitters in the 2nd. The right-hander commanded his sinker well, but seemed to struggle with putting hitters away. Multiple times during the Rangers’ three-run rally, Bassitt tried to sequence his sinker low and in with a fastball up, only to badly miss on the fastball. Texas hitters had seven swings and misses against Bassitt’s curveball, but he only generated three total outs and one strikeout on the breaking ball.

Bassitt has the veteran savvy and a six-to-seven pitch mix that should allow him to bounce back this weekend against the Pirates. His Orioles debut, however? That certainly fell flat.

Good morning.

Evan Grant writes that Jack Leiter looked every bit the part of an established, successful starting pitcher in a season debut victory for the Texas Rangers last night.

Kennedi Landry writes that, now donning his dad’s No. 22, Leiter started his 2026 campaign with a win over the AL East’s Baltimore Orioles.

Grant writes that Brandon Nimmo’s approach at the top of the order is already rubbing off and that’s paying off for the Rangers.

One weekend into the season and the pundits are coming around on the fact that the Rangers are surely going to win the World Series as Texas climbs the powerrankings.

Grant writes that Carter Baumler’s first week as a big leaguer sees him return to where it all began as his next appearance will likely be against the team that drafted him and left him unprotected in the Rule 5 draft.

And, Grant notes that the Rangers anticipate Jacob deGrom making his 2026 debut tonight in Baltimore, but they haven’t made it official yet.

Have a nice day!

I’ve come to think of Bryce Elder the last couple of years as Chunky Woody Harrelson. Not fat, just broad-shouldered with a full, kind face. I have noticed this season that he’s added the beard. He does appear to be slimmer. As a blogger with a terminal case of dad bod, I know how helpful it can be to add facial hair to appear more svelte. Or at least it can hide the soft jawbone.

On the left is 2025 and right is this season in Spring Training. The uniforms are different, but you can get an idea. For what it’s worth, I think he’s down maybe 5-10 pounds. He looks more like a younger Rick Sutcliffe now than a Chunky Woody Harrelson.

He might be down a few pounds, I don’t know. But one thing that was been streamlined last night was his delivery. It’s tougher to see in Baseball Savant or other MLB Media clips. Bryce has this annoying habit of moving faster to the plate on some throws and slower on others. Specifically:

1. A near quick pitch approach. Barely comes set, then throws the ball.
2. A more labored start to the windup, then releases to the plate.
3. A third speed which is somewhere in between.

However last night, I didn’t see that much. His pace somewhere in between speed 1 and 3. There was no quick pitch, just a reasonably quick pace. I didn’t see him deviate until for pitch 66 of the appearance. He slowed down, had trouble retrieving his grip on the slider, and sent it way above Jonah Heim and left. He would walk Carlos Cortes one pitch later, and Jonah visited to help him lock in again. He would rally to strike out Nick Kurtz. Then he did do the labored windup deal a couple of times in the sixth. But he was much more composed all the way around. (I’m writing this overnight and Savant won’t have the individual pitch video right now. But I will try to remember to get the Cortes pitch up in the morning.)

EDIT: With the help of the video, this is the pitch I’m referring to. He’s slower to the plate here. He’s clearly having trouble gripping the slider. You can see that, but what you don’t see here is that his pace slowed before he threw this pitch. Savant’s not going to give you five seconds before the pitch (because worldwide memory shortage for one) but his pace is interrupted. This is what you didn’t see a lot last night.

I don’t think Bryce Elder is fixed or has found the solution to his troubles. His location was better last night especially with the four seam fastball. Although some pitches left something to be desired. He visited the zone more with the slider more than I would like. Thankfully, the Athletics couldn’t do much with him (or really anybody this year). But Bryce’s composure has improved, and he does look much more comfortable.

The annual Kid’s Day Game at Swayze Field is just a special little event if you’ve never been there in person.

Thousands of shrieking children from local schools pack the stands for this one game and getting to skip a day of school to watch baseball is about as American as it gets. First pitch is set for 11 a.m. CT, so you know there will be approximately 5,000 hot dogs and 10,000 sno-cones ate/spilled in just a few short hours.

The Rebels (19-10, 3-6 SEC) are looking to bounce back from a four game losing streak that started last Tuesday. Enter the Ohio Valley’s Little Rock (17-11, 5-1 OVC) for today’s game, and it very well could be a tighter contest than anyone expected in the preseason.

Five Trojans are batting over .300 in this lineup that produces 6.3 runs per game, and with the Rebels ongoing offensive struggles, this could make for a potential upset in the making. Now meanwhile the Little Rock pitching leaves a lot to be desired giving up more than 5.5 runs per game with one huge outlier being one of its games against Memphis where it lost 24-5 in seven innings.

PROJECTED PITCHING MATCHUPS

• Ole Miss: LHP Grayson Gibson (1-1, 2.25 ERA)
• Little Rock: LHP Nic Bronzini (0-1, 11.57 ERA)

Grayson Gibson will be making his first start as an Ole Miss Rebel today against Little Rock. The freshman out of Tampa, Fla. has been solid out of the bullpen and has shown the ability to go 50+ pitches. His best and longest stint in a game this season was a four inning shutout against Memphis a few weeks back.

Nic Bronzini doesn’t look like a great pitcher on paper with his plus-11 ERA, and his best performance of the year looks to be a 3.1 IP, 2 ER, 4 K outing against Arkansas St. I think the strategy for this opposing pitching staff today is going to be throwing outside of the zone to get some swing and misses to build some pressure on the home team.

If there was a team that ever needed a slumpbuster, it is this Ole Miss squad. First pitch is set for 11 a.m. CT and will be streamed live on SEC Network+. Get at least mildly irresponsible and watch it from work.