Millions of people around the world continue to follow the baseball odds whenever Stephen Strasburg is on the mound.
The Washington Nationals rookie sensation is now 2-0 on the season after defeating the Cleveland Indians on Sunday. His next start should be on Friday where he will be favored over the Chicago White Sox in baseball lines.
Baseball odds listed Strasburg as more than a 2-1 favorite in his first start against the Pittsburgh Pirates and he was almost a two dollar favorite against Cleveland. He has two wins in his two starts and a total of 22 strikeouts. He has the second-most strikeouts in the first two starts of a career. Strasburg allowed just two hits in his second start but he did walk five batters. The crowd of 32,876 in Cleveland was their second highest total of the season.
Strasburg has pitched 12 1/3 innings in his two starts and has gone 2-0 vs. the baseball odds. He has an ERA of 2.19 and has struck out 22 and walked five. He has been heavily favored in both of his first two starts and that should be the case again when the faces the White Sox even though it could be Mark Buehrle going for Chicago on Friday. The White Sox have not had a good season and would be underdogs on the road against Washington anyway and definitely will be underdogs when Strasburg pitches.
The Nationals are a far better team at home than on the road. They were 18-12 at home this season so there is no question that the baseball lines on Strasburg will be even higher when he pitches at home. The Nationals have struggled on the road and that is one of the reasons they are at the bottom of the National League East. The Nationals are not that far out of first place though as the division has been very competitive with no team running away from the others. The Phillies and Braves have led the division but neither team has gotten out to a big lead. With Strasburg going every fifth day, the Nationals might actually be able to stay in the race through the summer. They will definitely get some interest in the games in which Strasburg pitches.