Free Pick | Monday | MLB | April 1

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#908 San Diego Padres (Waldron) -105 over St. Louis Cardinals (Gibson) 8:40 PM CT

Kyle Gibson has won at least 10 games in eight of the past 10 seasons while bouncing around with four different teams in the past five seasons. His K/9 was only 7.4 last season with a 4.73 ERA and in his career his March/April splits have been marginal. In limited action Gibson has a 6.32 ERA at Petco Park and so far this season the Cardinals have struggled in the late innings with a 6.60 bullpen ERA in a 1-3 start to the season. St. Louis pitching has allowed at least five runs in all four games this season and the Cardinals had to play the late game last night for a challenging turnaround, now in San Diego. The Padres split two games in South Korea and split the opening series with the Giants in four high-scoring games. San Diego managed to get by with only four pitchers yesterday thanks to a 9-0 head start in the first two innings while a few regulars were also able to take the late innings off. In 41 innings as a rookie for San Diego last season Matt Waldon had adequate results and closed the season with three strong outings in a row as a starter last September. Waldron is 27 and doesn’t project to be much more than a back-of-the rotation fill-in but his command was solid last season, and he likely has more strikeout potential than his 2023 numbers showed. Waldron had a 1.35 ERA in spring training over four appearances to earn this opportunity and a Padres lineup with an .852 team OPS so far this season can provide solid support vs. Gibson, a proven below-average option on the mound.