Surging Red Sox Have Won 8 of 10, Average 9.1 Hits Per Road Game

In today’s newsletter…

- Leading Off: NBA coaches without experience
- MLB: Chris Sale’s Yankees matchup
- News: Boxer Ryan Garcia suspended

With JJ Redick reportedly hired to be the coach of the Lakers, we took a look at the history of NBA head coaches that got the job without any coaching or executive experience in the league.

Since 1980, 12 coaches were hired without that experience, and they combined for 11 playoff appearances over 26 total seasons (some resigned or were fired mid-season, so that is a little inflated). They averaged lasting a little over two seasons each and had a combined winning percentage of about 45%. Of the group, Doc Rivers had the most success — coaching the Magic for five seasons and making three playoff appearances.

In today’s newsletter, Craig is covering Cubs rookie Shota Imanaga’s first time facing a team twice and the surging Red Sox, who have won eight of 10 games.

Mets moneyline (+128 at FanDuel)
Shota Imanaga continues to perform like an NL Rookie of the Year favorite for the Cubs. The visiting Mets, however, are red-hot and appear to be in position to frustrate the befuddling lefty. They’ve won eight of their last 10 and are 11-5 in June with 97 runs scored — including 5.6 runs per game on the road. Finally, it’s worth considering that the Mets will be the first team to see Imanaga for a second start.

Pete Alonso over 1.5 combined hits + runs + RBI (+115 at DraftKings)
The Mets need Pete Alonso to excel if they’re going to remain in the wildcard hunt, and that’s what he — and they — are doing in June. Alonso is batting .273/.360/.530 this month and has reached this over in four straight contests. As we said, we’re considering the chances of the Mets enjoying more success against Imanaga their second time seeing him. Familiarity can be a thorn in the side of a pitcher who benefits from deception to the degree Imanaga does. 

Braves -0.5 first 5 innings (+114 at DraftKings)
Expect Chris Sale to be tough on the Yankees. He’s hell on lefties in particular, so Juan Soto and Alex Verdugo are in for a tall task. It doesn’t help matters that right-handed swinging Gleyber Torres is 0 for 17 with seven strikeouts against Sale. The Yankees are significantly less formidable against lefties, and they naturally perform worse against power pitchers compared to their finesse counterparts. Overall, it’s reasonable to expect a slow offensive start from the Yanks.

Phillies vs. D-backs over 5.5 runs first 5 innings (-102 at FanDuel)
The Phillies are dominant at home, and even without J.T. Realmuto, they should apply pressure on Jordan Montgomery (6.00 ERA, 1.63 WHIP) throughout his start. Taijuan Walker takes the hill for the Phils with inflated numbers of his own, including a 4.96 ERA across 16.1 June frames. The Diamondbacks are scoring a shade over 4.7 runs per game on the road and should plate a few tonight themselves.

Blue Jays moneyline (+100 at DraftKings)
Carlos Carrasco is facing the Blue Jays for the second time in a week. There’s not a large sample of him facing the same team back-to-back, but he struggled in a similar spot against the Red Sox this season and Astros in 2023. Quality home cooking isn’t a given for Carrasco, who struggles at Progressive Field. The Blue Jays, meanwhile, perform slightly better on the road in the runs scored and run differential departments.

Tigers -0.5 first 5 innings (-120 at DraftKings)
Jack Flaherty has not allowed a run in 16.2 innings across his last three starts for Detroit, but this play is more about his ability overall than a scoreless streak. Flaherty has the talent and experience to cut through a free-swinging, light-hitting lineup (on paper, at least). The White Sox have continued to play poorly in June (5-13, 3.8 runs per game), and they’ve failed to cover in three of four and four of six.

Red Sox most hits (-110 at FanDuel)
The Red Sox have won eight of 10 and five in a row. The Reds are 4-6 across their last 10 and have a sub-.500 record at home overall. Boston’s Kutter Crawford has come back to earth in recent starts, but has only allowed 14 hits across his last 18 innings. Meanwhile, the Red Sox are averaging 9.1 hits per game on the road and 11 across their last three.