Baseball lines favor Florida on Friday as they host the Los Angeles Dodgers. Chris Volstad is expected to get the start for the Marlins. Two years ago Volstad was excellent but last year he struggled vs. the baseball odds. Baseball lines on this series between Los Angeles and Florida have been very competitive with the teams splitting their last 20 games. The key in this contest could be the pitching of Volstad. Two years ago he was 6-4 with a 2.88 ERA. Last year he did not pitch well. He was okay on the road, going 5-4 with a 4.31 ERA but at home he was 4-9 with a 6.06 ERA.
Last season the Dodgers and Marlins met in two series and each team won three games in baseball odds. At Florida, the Dodgers won two of the three games. Four of the six meetings a year ago went over the baseball lines total. That could happen in this game considering Volstad did not pitch that well a year ago. Friday can also hit as they have a number of excellent players including Hanley Ramirez. They also have a player you may not have heard of in Chris Coghlan. Ramirez believes that Coghlan can win a batting title in the future. “He’s my guy. He’s going to be a batting champion someday.” Ramirez said. Last season Ramirez won the batting title, hitting .342 for the season. He was the first Marlin to win the batting title. Coghlan had 113 hits after the All-Star break and that led all of baseball. He was sixth in the batting race with a .321 average and he won the NL Rookie of the Year. Coghlan bats leadoff and leads a potent Florida offense vs. the baseball lines. “Someday, me and him could be going for it,” Ramirez said, “I love the way he plays. He brings a lot of energy to the team.”
Florida hitting coach Jim Presley said that a lot of things have to go right to win a batting title. “It’s hard to win a batting title, because you’ve got so many variables,” Presley said. “That’s why .342 is so impressive.” Coghlan was impressive too in baseball lines numbers as only eight times in the past 50 years did a rookie hit at least .321 in either league. “He’s got a shot. You’ve just got to put it all together,” Presley said. “You’ve got to stay healthy. You’ve got to catch some breaks. I know Hanley hit some balls last year that found some friday holes. You say, ‘Well, that’s what it takes.'”