Since Verlander’s first full season in the majors he has suffered through only one losing season. Since his first full season in 2006, Verlander has been a dominant force on the mound. He won 17 games as a rookie and quickly became the premier fire baller in the American League.

He conjures memories of another great Detroit Tigers pitcher, Denny McLain. McLain won 31 games in 1968 and went down in history for one of the greatest pitching seasons in the modern era of baseball.

Verlander’s 24 win season in 2011 is comparable to McLain’s feat in 68. It is rare in the new era of Major League Baseball to see a starting pitcher over power big league hitters but Verlander’s heat gets better the deeper he goes into a game.

Verlander has won 97 games in just five seasons of action and 61 games in his last three. The value Verlander gives to his Tigers teammates is that of a stopper. A pitcher who the manager Jim Leyland and his teammates can rely on to stop the bleeding of a losing streak or the man who will keep their winning streak alive.

If Verlander does have an Achilles heel it is his penchant for giving up home runs at inopportune times. The positives far outweigh the negatives when it comes to Verlander and a few home runs at the wrong time will never lessen his impact on the Detroit Tigers.

In MLB odds, Philadelphia is currently the top favorite to win the 2011 World Series, at 3-1 odds.

The Phillies are in first place in the NL East as they are currently 9 games over the .500 mark. The Mets are 6.5 games behind Philadelphia this season as they are 2 games under .500 at 22-24. In this game, the Mets will be the home team and at home this season, they are 10-12. To this point in the season the Phillies are 12-9 on the road.

After the comments made by the Mets’ owner, they have a lot of drama circling their franchise. Recently their owner summoned Jose Reyes, David Wright and Carlos Beltran to question their value to the Mets’ organization. If these players respond and play better, or if they shut down and stop performing for the Mets will be interesting to see.

To the mound this weekend, the Phillies will send Oswalt, Hamels and Worley. It has been the reason behind the success of the Phillies this season as their pitching has been fantastic this season.

The Phillies have some help coming back to the lineup in the form of Chase Utley, while their offense has been up and down all season. Although Utley was a victim to tendinitis in his knees, he was formerly one of the best hitters in the league. He should be able to step in and offer a big bat for Philadelphia as it appears that he is rehabilitated.

Get MLB Odds for this matchup at online sportsbooks.

The Rangers have surprised everyone by staying in contention after losing their ace pitcher, Cliff Lee, during the offseason. This will be an interesting matchup as Cliff Lee decided to head to Philadelphia instead of staying and pitching for the Rangers. Fortunately for Lee, he will not have to go in front of the potentially angry Texas fans this weekend, as his team will be playing at home.

Philadelphia will send their best three pitchers to the mound. Halladay, Lee and Oswalt represent the most feared top of the rotation that we have seen since the days of the amazing pitching staffs from the Atlanta Braves.

The Rangers have a great offense, but they will struggle to hit against these pitchers. Philadelphia has allowed fewer runs than any other team in the majors so far this season. Texas still does have a chance to win this game though, as the Phillies sometimes struggle to give the run support they need to their starters. The Phillies have scored fewer runs than all but one team in their division this season.

The Rangers need to get over their struggles that they’ve had while playing on the road. They are just 6-10 away from their home stadium this season. Adrian Beltre went through a bit of a slump for the Rangers, but he appears to be coming back to life. It seems that when he is hitting well, the entire offense plays better.

The Phillies will send 3 solid pitchers to the mound in this series as Oswalt, Hamels and Lee will take the mound. It is good news that the Phillies are planning on sending Oswalt to the mound. Oswalt recently took a leave of absence because of concerns regarding his family and the natural disasters that have recently taken place. With these three pitchers taking the mound the Phillies will certainly have the advantage in this series.

The Phillies have not only been good in their pitching, but they are also outscoring everyone else in their division this season, leading the way with 121 runs to this point in the season.

The Braves are 14-15 on the season and they are now 5 games behind the Phillies in the standings. While they are a ways behind in the standings, a sweep in this series would bring them a lot closer to Philadelphia. The Phillies are currently at 18-9.

The Phillies will be the home team in this series. This will be a good advantage as they have gone 9-5 this year. The Braves have been a decent road team to this point, winning 9 of their 17 road games to this point.

Both of these teams have been decent over the last 10 games. The Phillies have brought home 7 wins and the Braves have won 6 of their last 10 games.

Philadelphia is the top favorite to win the 2011 World Series, at 3-1 odds in MLB odds.

MLB Futures Odds have The Dodgers at 40-1 and the Cubs at 45-1 to win the 2011 World Series.

These teams are both struggling this season, as they are both barely under the .500 mark on the year.  Both teams are .500 at home, but they are below .500 while playing on the road. This should give the Cubs a slight advantage in the series.

While the Dodgers are known for having a solid pitching staff, they have actually been one of the worst teams in their division in terms of ERA. They have allowed 78 runs on the season compared to the 52 runs they have scored so far. They will need their bats to pick up and their pitching to be more effective if they hope to take this series.

The Cubs are suffering from some of the same issues that the Dodgers are, but they have at least had more success on offense than the Dodgers. The Cubs will send Coleman, Dumpster and Zambian to the mound for this series. None of these pitchers have been especially good this season, but Dumpster and Zambian are veterans and have had should stabilize as the season progresses.

The Dodgers will have Billingsley, Lilly and Kuroda on the mound. Billingsley is seen by many to be an ace caliber pitcher, but he has been up and down this season. The Dodgers need him to step up if they hope to compete for the playoffs this season.

After opening the season at 3-1 Boston has slipped to 9-2 in baseball odds to win the 2011 World Series where as baseball picks have the Yankees at 5-1.

After the team has struggled to start the season on a six game road trip, the Red Sox probably cannot wait to get back home to the friendly confines of Fenway Park. The Red Sox have dropped their first five contests and have compiled a 0-5 record during this six game swing. Things will not get any easier when New York’s sluggers come into town as so far Boston’s pitching has been a cause of great concern for the preseason AL East favorites.

At the beginning of the 2011 season the Yankees on the other hand have gotten off to a decent start. The Yankees are 3-2 on the young year, and nothing would make the Yankees happier than seeing Boston’s woes continue after today’s rainout against the Minnesota Twins.

As Friday night will see John Lackey take on Phil Hughes, Saturday will feature Clay Buchholz against Ivan Nova, and Sunday will showcase the marquee pitchers for both teams as Josh Beckett will take the mound against C.C. Sabathia on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball, the pitching match ups for this weekend’s series should be good ones.

MLB Picks have the Rangers at +2000 odds to win the World Series this season.

While you might think that they should be on track for having another great season, there is reason to believe that they will struggle to duplicate last year’s success. A main contributor to that reason is Cliff Lee. Lee had a fantastic season and carried the Rangers through the postseason. Without Lee the Rangers may struggle with their starting pitching.

The Rangers also lost one of their best hitters in Vladimir Guerrero. Guerrero was a force in the middle of the lineup and drove in more runs than anyone on the team. They did manage to replace him with Adrian Beltre. While Beltre has been inconsistent over his career, he has shown flashes of potential that are unmatched by all but a few players in Major League Baseball.

The Rangers may be able to overcome the loss of Cliff Lee if Brandon Webb is able to return to form. He was formerly the ace of the Arizona Diamondbacks, but has been forgotten following an injury.

The Rangers have all of the talent in the world on offense, but it may not be enough if they can’t stop their opponents from scoring runs.

The Padres are at 45-1 odds to win the 2011 World Series in MLB lines.

The Padres are built to be successful no matter where they play. While some teams tend to fare much better at their home field, the Padres had an identical record while playing at home and on the road last season.

The Padres will have a tough task ahead of them in duplicating the success that they had last season. They are playing in the NL West, one of the most difficult divisions in baseball. Last season there were 4 teams in the division that managed to win at least 80 games.

While the Padres managed to win 90 games with a fantastic pitching staff, they need to step things up offensively if they hope to have success again this season. Last year they batted just .246 on the season. This was just the 28th best batting average in Major League Baseball.

All of the offense for the Padres relied on Adrian Gonzalez last season. He pounded 30 homeruns and knocked in 101 RBIs last season. Gonzalez has jumped ship and will now be helping out the Boston Red Sox. The San Diego Padres will need someone to step up and fill in for Gonzalez or the Padres will be a sub .500 team this season with the stiff competition in the NL West Division.

In baseball picks, the San Diego Padres are favorites to win World Series this season.

The two asked Mr. Selig to bring up the matter in collective bargaining negotiations and they are not looking for a snap decision. A spokeswoman for Sen. Durbin, Christina Mulka said that for legislation prohibiting smokeless tobacco use in baseball, there were no plans.

MLB had no immediate response and it appeared to be chewing on the idea. Last spring, when Republican Henry Waxman of California and other Democratic House members made a similar request, it did not have much of a reaction. Over the past year, MLB has come under growing scrutiny for allowing its players to use smokeless tobacco. It may encourage use among kids and presents a health risk.

The senators wrote that the positive image of the sport is undermined by the use of smokeless tobacco by baseball players and sends a dangerous message to young fans, as they are highly influenced by the players and they look up to them as their role models.
They also highlighted on the numerous health risks of tobacco use and the troubling statistics. They added that every year, tobacco-related products kill 443,000 Americans and 1,000 American children and teenagers become new regular smokers each day. Cancer of the stomach, larynx, esophagus, oral cancer is caused by Smokeless tobacco.

One can always clearly see players or even coaches spitting tobacco, if you watch any major league game. In the minor leagues, smokeless tobacco has been banned. Banning in the major league is a tougher task as many players opposed to a ban. In the MLB, approximately one third of players are believed to use smokeless tobacco. In December, the current CBA expires.

General manager Ken Williams talked about interest in working out a multi-year deal with Ramirez, at the point when the option was picked up, although before working with a valuable player under control such as Ramirez, there were pressing needs to take care of in building the team. The 29-year-old, for his 2010 performance, earned his first Louisville Slugger Silver Slugger Award, marking him as the best shortstop with the bat in the American League.

Ramirez getting a deal of this kind of value is a bit surprising; although there is no doubt that, he is a talented player. In his three seasons in the bigs, he has not shown much progression. His rookie year is still perhaps his finest season until date. The White Sox clearly do not want to take a chance at letting him slip out of their grasp and the fact is that he provides above average offense at a premium defensive position. He is still relatively affordable and it is better to lock him up now than wait until he really becomes a star.

In 156 games, Ramirez batted .282 with 18 home runs, 29 doubles and 70 RBIs. To capture the Silver Slugger, he became the first middle infielder in White Sox history, leading all AL shortstops in average, slugging percentage (.431), home runs and total bases (252). He tied for third in hits among shortstops and finished second in RBIs.

For the 2010 Rawlings Gold Glove award, Ramirez was one of the favorites for his spectacular defensive showing. The honor went to Derek Jeter.