2022 MLB Opening Day picks Best bets to

The 2022 Major League Baseball season officially gets underway on Thursday. It was touch-and-go a bit there a month ago, too, wasn't it? I feel like we certainly didn't expect the regular season to be starting just yet at one point, so it's nice to get a little early April action.Speaking of action, there's certainly some to be had over on Caesars Sportsbook. Let's make some Opening Day selections. Just for fun, I'll go with one moneyline pick, one Markus Wheaton Jersey on the run line (it's baseball's version of a spread, and one total (the over/under).We'll be using last year's stat lines when identifying the starting pitchers. They are all 0-0 with a 0.00 ERA in 2022, obviously.Reds starter: (13-6, 3.75)Braves starter: (14-7, 3.04) Featured Game | Atlanta Braves vs. Cincinnati Reds Moneyline Spread Total ATL CIN We can start the season by flexing muscles with one of my central gambling tenets. There is no reason to get overly cute and often times the easy and obvious looking pick actually is easy and obvious. As we head into the season, the Braves look like one of the best teams in baseball. The Reds look like one of the worst.The Braves are the defending World Series champions and will have added adrenaline that comes with playing in front of a packed and rocking Truist Park.In Fried's last 11 regular-season starts last season, the Braves went 10-1 and he had a 1.46 ERA. Three of his five playoff starts were gems as well. Minkah Fitzpatrick Jersey Mahle is good and posted excellent road numbers last season, so this might not happen until late in the game, but the Braves will eventually win by multiple runs, po sibly even in blowout fashion.The pick: Braves -1.5 (-105)Astros starter: (11-6, 3.14)Angels starter: (9-2, 3.18) Featured Game | Los Angeles Angels vs. Houston Astros Moneyline Spread Pittsburgh Steelers Accessories Total LAA HOU The Angels are actually at full strength. That's a big deal. They barely got any of and/or last season. Ohtani has had injuries in the past. Not only are all three guys going to occupy important lineup spots, but there's 2021 breakout star and 2022 breakout candidate . Ohtani on the mound is a plus and the Angels get to leave him in the lineup even after he's removed in front of Joe Maddon's shiny new setup toys ( and ) in front of ace closer .The Astros are still one of the better teams in the league and likely the best AL West team, but this Benny Snell Jr. Jersey is their first game without and it's on the road against a very talented team.Simply, I really like how this one sets up for the Halos.The pick: Angels -130 (moneyline)Padres starter: (8-11, 4.22)Diamondbacks starter: (7-10, 4.67) Featured Game | Arizona Diamondbacks vs. San Diego Padres Moneyline Spread Total ARI SD Darvish struggled mightily down the stretch last season. Actually, from the start of July through the end of the season, he pitched to a 6.65 ERA and 5.05 FIP. His strikeout rate was still fine, but he allowed a .536 slugging percentage in that span of starts. He was brutal on the road last season, too, going 2-7 with a 5.54 ERA.The Diamondbacks don't have a good offense, but they have several capable offensive players, such as star , Pittsburgh Steelers T Shirts and will be able to put some runs on the board.Bumgarner, meanwhile, has a five-plus ERA since signing with the D-Backs. He was better in the second half last season, but he still wasn't good (3.95 ERA, 4.74 FIP after the All-Star break). And while weather will be an i sue through much of the East and Midwest, it sure won't be in Chase Field. It's an excellent hitter environment.Even without superstar , Jr., we like a high-scoring affair in Phoenix. Even just a 5-4 result gets us home.The pick: Over 8.5 runs