Astros Open as Massive Favorites Over Mariners on Opening Day

The Houston Astros are finally set to begin the 2020 season with their opener against the Seattle Mariners. As expected, last year's World Series runner-up is a massive favorite against the rebuilding Mariners, even as the fallout from the offseason sign-stealing scandal continues to play out.

After losing Game 7 of the World Series to the Washington Nationals, the Astros had one of the worst offseasons in recent memory. They lost Gerrit Cole to the New York Yankees and were found guilty in a wide-ranging sign-stealing scandal from 2017 that cost them manager A.J. Hinch and draft picks. They also rightfully earned the hatred of every other team in baseball.

Mariners vs Astros Opening Day Moneyline

However, the Astros still have a talented team and have the third-best odds to win the World Series on FanDuel Sportsbook, with a win total over/under at 35.5. They are sitting at -300 to beat the Mariners on Friday, the heaviest favorites of any team playing that day. The over/under is 7.5 runs.

The Astros are playing at home and will have a significant advantage in the pitching matchup. 2019 Cy Young winner Justin Verlander, now fully recovered from groin surgery, will start against Marco Gonzales. Gonzales' ERA was 3.99 last year compared to Verlander's 2.58, so the difference between the No. 1 starters is huge.

Despite likely missing Yordan Alvarez, the Astros still have a deep and talented lineup featuring Alex Bregman, Michael Brantley, and George Springer. The Mariners, having traded away many of their hitters, will be playing a light-hitting lineup that finished 29th in the majors in batting average in 2019.

The game is clearly tilted in Houston's favor, but anything can happen in one baseball game. That being said, Houston went 18-1 against Seattle in 2019, so the odds are quite justifiable.

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Tristan Jung is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Tristan Jung also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username tristan1117. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.