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Here we go! After a long offseason, the start of the 2024 Major League Baseball regular season is almost here and people can’t wait for things to arrive. On Thursday, there’s a full slate of games, with some head-turning action on the way. This will be a great chance for several clubs to set the tone with early victories. What will end up happening? As we inch closer to the action, the Mariners and Astros are among the MLB favorites for Opening Day. Will they post wins?
Starting with the Houston Astros, they’re taking on the New York Yankees in what could be a preview of the 2024 ALCS. These teams are quite familiar with one another, with Houston knocking the Yankees out of the postseason in recent years. These two teams don’t like one another, so you better believe that the Yankees are going to be out for revenge here. However, that’s going to be a tough task.
| Opening Day odds |  |  |  |
| Astros to win | -110 | -110 | -110 |
| Mariners to win | -110 | -110 | -110 |
| Braves to win | -110 | -110 | -110 |
| Yankees to win | +125 | +125 | +125 |
Star pitcher Gerrit Cole was supposed to be the Opening Day starter, but he’s out for at least the first month of the season with an elbow injury. Because of that, Nestor Cortes will be getting the start. Cortes is a great pitcher, but the Astros batters, including Yordan Alvarez and Jose Altuve, will be ready to have a field day against him. This will be an exciting showdown and there’s surely a ton of pressure on both sides to come out swinging.
According to the best-rated sportsbooks, which includes the reliable Bovada review, the Astros, the home team, hold -110 MLB betting odds to post a win. As for the Yankees, they’re entering this game with +125 MLB betting odds. If Cole was on the mound for New York, then we’d surely go with the Bronx Bombers in this one. However, we think Cortes is going to struggle. With all of that said, we’re going with the Astros as our pick to post a Game 1 victory and start ’24 the right way.
The relentless pursuit of baseball’s biggest prize. #Relentless pic.twitter.com/EyO1av3gaE
— Houston Astros (@astros) February 8, 2024
Luis Castillo will be taking the bump for the Mariners
As for Seattle, Luis Castillo will be taking the bump for the Mariners in their season-opener against the Boston Red Sox. This game will be played at T-Mobile Park in Seattle, further giving the M’s an advantage to post the win. Not only that, but Castillo is easily one of the best pitchers in the American League. Whenever he’s on the mound, Castillo is known for making opposing hitters look silly. Will he also be able to do that against Boston?
The Red Sox have high expectations this year, especially after their 2023 campaign didn’t go as planned. With that said, the Red Sox didn’t quite make the kind of splash that people were hoping for during the offseason. It’s up in the air if they’ll be able to make some noise in the AL East. Not too many people are confident that they’ll sneak into the postseason, as folks think the Rays and Yankees are far ahead of them.
All 9 strikeouts from Luis Castillo today: (he's ready for opening day) pic.twitter.com/mqNGn86i7v
— Steve (@MarinersSteve) March 23, 2024
The Mariners missed out on the postseason in ’23 too., but manager Scott Servais and Co. are feeling confident leading up to the new year. There will be a ton of eyes on star center fielder Julio Rodriguez, as he needs to get off to a strong start this spring. J-Rod got off to a super slow start last season, which was a complete and total shock. In order for the Mariners to make noise this year, he’ll be needed to be at his best from start to finish.
Per the oddsmakers, the Mariners hold -110 MLB betting odds to take down the Red Sox on Thursday night. A sellout crowd is expected in the Pacific Northwest, which is only going to make things even tougher for Boston and hurler Brayan Bello. The Mariners need to come out of the gates hot here and have people believing they’ll sneak back into the playoffs. A win over Boston is needed and we think it’ll happen for them.
The Braves are also favorites on Opening Day against Philly
Looking at the National League, the Braves are also favorites on Opening Day against Philly. This shouldn’t come as a surprise at all, as Atlanta holds strong MLB World Series betting odds for 2024. However, you can’t forget about the talent that the Phillies have, of course including Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper. When they’re hot, those two are the best home-run duo in the bigs. We’ve seen that countless times over the past two seasons and fans are hoping that will be the case in ’24 too.
As for Atlanta, goodness, they have a wealth of talent on their roster. Standout pitcher Spencer Strider will start Game 1 and he’ll hope to keep the Philly offense quiet throughout the night. Offensively, Matt Olson, Ronald Acuna Jr., Ozzie Albies and others will be ready to put on a show for Atlanta. This could be a close game, but we think the Braves will be the ones to come out on top. We’re going with Atlanta as our pick for this meeting.
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