Rays vs. Reds prediction and odds for Tuesday, April 18 (Bradley's Second Chance to Impress)

The Tampa Bay Rays couldn’t keep winning games forever and now they’ve lost three of their last four. Last night, they dropped Game 1 of this three-game series in Cincinnati to the Reds. The Rays are now, 14-3, still the best in baseball and the Red are 7-9 and in fourth place in the NL Central. 

Tonight, the Rays send Taj Bradley to the mound with hopes of finding their way back into the win column and he’ll be opposed by Nick Lodolo. Bradley is 1-0 with a 5.40 ERA and Lodolo is 2-0 with a 2.12 ERA in three starts. Let’s get into the odds for the Reds and Rays in Cincy. 

Rays vs. Reds odds, run line and total

Rays vs. Reds prediction and pick

Taj Bradley is the Rays top pitching prospect and he’s getting his second chance to start in their rotation. He was expected to just make a spot start for Zach Eflin, but now Jeffrey Springs is down, so Bradley is back from Triple-A.

In his debut on April 12, he went five innings and allowed three earned runs, but with eight strikeouts and just one walk. He carries a 5.40 ERA into this start, but that comes with a 0.72 FIP that indicates he was much better than a typical three runs in five innings start. 

On the mound for the Reds a former top pitching prospect in Lodolo, who has turned into a full-grown left-handed ace. He’s been legitimately great to start his second season and has allowed just four earned in 17.0 innings and has 27 strikeouts to six walks. His whiff rate is 95th percentile and his strikeout percentage is 93rd percentile. His FIP is 1.97 and he’s only given up one home run. 

I’m excited for this pitching matchup and it looks like this could be a low-scoring game, though I’m not going to play the total. The Rays have cooled off some, but are still sixth in OPS in the last seven days and are fifth in OPS against lefties. They have a league high five homers against lefties. Even against Lodolo, I think the Rays get the win on the road in this one. 

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Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change