Free Pick | Thursday | MLB | April 27

Nelly’s MLB has a three-game card on the diamond for Thursday. We also have a rare NBA top play in the playoffs tonight!

Free Pick #972 Philadelphia Phillies (Strahm) -110 over Seattle Mariners (Kirby) 12:05 PM CT
The Phillies delivered a 6-5 comeback win yesterday against Seattle, rallying after falling behind 5-2 in the second inning. Despite the tight final, the Phillies did out-hit the Mariners 12-8 and Philadelphia pitching produced 14 strikeouts. This early start game could favor the hosts again as Seattle is batting just .205 vs. left-handers on the season. Philadelphia is MLB’s top batting average team hitting .278 and the scoring and win column results are catching up following a terrible first week of the season for the defending National League champions. The Phillies are 7-3 in the past 10 games with more than six runs per nine innings vs. right-handed pitching. Matt Strahm’s conversion to a starting role has gone well so far with an incredible 13.5 K/9 this season and a 2.95 FIP. George Kirby has a solid ERA so far in 2023 to back up strong rookie season so far but his K/9 is just 6.8 so far in 2023, a huge decline from last season as few batters are being fooled now with more experience and scouting on the very accurate 2019 1st round pick. Knowing Kirby will be in the zone consistently should play to the strengths of this Phillies lineup that has been putting the ball in play successfully this season.