Sports betting odds list the Seattle Mariners as the second choice to win the American League West this season behind the Los Angeles Angels. One of the reasons the Mariners are given a chance in sportsbetting is because they added 2008 American League Cy Young winner Cliff Lee. The problem for the Mariners is that Lee might start the season on the disabled list.
Sports betting odds indicate that the Mariners are given some respect in World Series odds as they are 16-1. If they don’t have Cliff Lee winning a lot of games for them those odds are way too low. Lee has done very little this spring because of a sore right abdomen. The Mariners are going to rest Lee for about a week to see if things improve. Manager Don Wakamatsu said that Lee could start the season on the 15-day DL.
“I think we’re just going to wait and see how he responds Wednesday.” Lee injured his abdomen on March 15th in a collision with Arizona’s Chris Snyder. Lee was not happy about the collision as he threw over Snyder’s head in his next at bat. Major League Baseball suspended Lee for five games for that incident. Lee is appealing the suspension and a ruling is expected on Monday.
Seattle would have had Lee pitching their second game of the season on April 6th at Oakland. Lee would have been a solid sports betting favorite in that game. The Mariners open the season April 5th at Oakland and Felix Hernandez is favored to beat the A’s.
Lee has had this problem before with his abdomen and in the past he took weeks to recover. He has strained his abdominal muscle three times since 2003. The other two occurred when he was pitching for Cleveland in spring training. In each instance Lee was out for six weeks. If that is the case this time then the Mariners will not have Lee for at least the first week of the Major League Baseball sports betting season and perhaps longer.
The Mariners are given a lot of respect in sportsbetting odds. Without Lee that respect would definitely fall. Seattle needs the powerful one-two punch of Hernandez and Lee if they are to contend in the American League West. They still don’t have the offense to match the Angels or the Rangers. Without Lee they don’t have the pitching either.