Cleveland Guardians vs. Los Angeles Dodgers: Picks, Predictions, Odds and Player Props

The series opener between the Cleveland Guardians and Los Angeles Dodgers ended in Cleveland’s favor after a phenomenal outing by Matthew Boyd.

The two offenses combined for just 11 hits as pitching dominated from the first pitch to the last, but that might not be the case on Saturday night as both teams are scrambling to find a starting pitcher.

The Guardians and Dodgers are both postseason bound and have only a few weeks left before October baseball begins.

Let’s preview this matchup and analyze the best bets to make even with plenty of uncertainty regarding the pitching.

Cleveland Guardians vs. Los Angeles Dodgers betting picks and predictions

Cleveland Guardians ML (+130)

The Guardians are on a bit of a run lately as they’ve won six of their last eight games. The lineup is back to mashing after a bit of a collective slump in August which raised some doubts about their postseason potential.

But that’s in the past and the Guardians are getting hot at the right time. On the mound for Cleveland was expected to be Alex Cobb, a veteran that has been a decent fix to a thin rotation. However, Cobb is reportedly dealing with a blister on his throwing hand and will skip his turn in the rotation on Saturday.

That means Gavin Williams will have his start pushed up to today and pitch on four days of rest. Williams was fantastic in his rookie season last year and had high expectations for his sophomore campaign, but injuries pushed his season debut until July.

He’s made only 12 starts in 2024 and has a 4.55 ERA paired with a 4.03 xERA to go with a 24.9% strikeout rate. The right-hander appears to be getting better with more outings under his belt since he’s allowed three runs or less in four of his last five starts.

The Dodgers came into the season with arguably the best rotation in baseball. The addition of Tyler Glasnow and Yoshinobu Yamamoto created a scary rotation of aces, but the entire rotation has suffered several injuries this season.

Currently, the Dodgers have Glasnow, Yamamoto, Clayton Kershaw, Gavin Stone, and River Ryan on the injured list.

All of these injuries to the pitching staff has given their #6 prospect Justin Wrobleski a chance in the big leagues. Although nothing is confirmed yet, Wrobleski is the projected starter since he is the most rested pitcher the Dodgers have at the moment.

The southpaw has made six starts with the Dodgers and owns a 6.82 ERA with a 6.95 xERA. His advanced metrics are even more concerning since he owns a 13.3% barrel rate, .295 xBA, .582 xSLG, and a 44.9% sweet-spot rate.

Unlike Williams, he hasn’t been getting better with time. His last start ended with him allowing 10 runs, 10 hits, and two home runs in 5.1 innings. It’s puzzling that we’re getting the Guardians at plus odds, so I’ll happily take the better team at plus money.

Over 9.0 (+100)

If the projections are right and it’s Williams against Wrobleski, this game could see double-digit runs. Williams has been improving lately but the Dodgers lineup is extremely dangerous and could knock him around if he throws his fastball too much. His four-seamer has been his biggest problem this year since opponents have a .280 xBA and .458 xSLG against that pitch.

Williams’ offspeed pitches are much better and he gets plenty of swings and misses with them, but when he gets down in the count, he tends to rely on his fastball too much.

As long as the Dodgers don’t help him and stay disciplined at the plate, they could score at least four runs tonight.

I’m anticipating for the majority of the runs to come against Wrobleski. The lefty has allowed four or more runs in four of his six starts this season and unsurprisingly has been struggling with control. In just 30.1 innings, he’s allowed nine home runs and 11 walks.

It’s not as if this is different from how he’s performed in the Minors though considering he was 0-2 with a 5.26 ERA and 1.71 WHIP in five starts in Triple-A earlier this season. Wrobleski hasn’t proven the ability to limit an MLB offense yet, so as long as he’s the one taking the ball for the Dodgers, I like the over in this game.

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Cleveland Guardians vs. Los Angeles Dodgers odds

Cleveland Guardians	+130 ML
Los Angeles Dodgers	-155 ML
Run Line	LA Dodgers -1.5
Total	O/U 9.0

Cleveland Guardians vs. Los Angeles Dodgers player props

Player Home Run Odds

Josh Naylor (CLE Guardians)	+400
Lane Thomas (CLE Guardians)	+375
Jose Ramirez (CLE Guardians)	+260
Mookie Betts	+425
Max Muncy	+320
Shohei Ohtani	+200

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This article was written by a partner sports writer via Spotlight Sports Group. All odds displayed on this page were correct at the time of writing and are subject to withdrawal or change at any time.