Baseball bet rivalry action takes place on Thursday as the Florida Marlins host the New York Mets in Grapefruit League action.
The Marlins might actually be the better team this season in baseball betting between these two National League East rivals.
Baseball bet odds still give the New York Mets a lot of respect although the Marlins are the better team. New York has a number of injury issues while the Marlins look ready to go. Florida also has the better pitching staff that can impact baseball bet odds led by Josh Johnson and other promising starters including Chris Volstad. The Marlins will go with Johnson as their top starter. He is followed in the rotation by Ricky Nolasco and Anibal Sanchez is expected to get the third spot as baseball bet information has it. Volstad is in the mix for the fourth spot. He has not had a lot of success in the Spring but he is improving. His numbers though have his ERA at 9.82 and that is not good news for those making a baseball bet on the Marlins when he is pitching.
The Marlins were hoping that Sean West would be in the mix but they sent the left-hander down to New Orleans to work on some things."[We want West to] just pitch and get his command down," manager Fredi Gonzalez said. "He came up and won eight games as a young pitcher last year. He will be back. There is no question in my mind. He’s going to be a big part of our rotation." West can’t throw strikes right now and that is a major problem. He had seven walks on Saturday against Baltimore. "Sometimes young kids put stuff on themselves," Gonzalez said. "He can get it worked out again and help us out."
The Marlins have two other spots in the rotation and Volstad is in the mix along with Andrew Miller, Rick VandenHurk and Hayden Penn. Even Clay Hensley could be a candidate. West is not part of that picture at the moment but that could change if he starts to pitch well at New Orleans. He was 8-6 last season for the Marlins with a 4.79 ERA and was a pitcher to watch in baseball betting. "Once I start trusting my stuff again, I’m going to be OK," West said. "That comes a little later on in spring."