Athletics vs. Guardians Friday MLB probable pitchers, odds: Oakland's Paul Blackburn most profitable starter in majors but could be regressing

Baseball bettors got some bad news this week when the least profitable pitcher in the major leagues, Washington's Joan Adon, was sent down to Triple-A. He was worth -$1019 if you bet $100 on the Nationals to win every time Adon took the mound. On the flip side, the most profitable pitcher in the majors takes the mound Friday, and that's Oakland right-hander Paul Blackburn as the A's play the second game of a series in Cleveland. The Guardians are -170 favorites at Caesars Sportsbook.

The A's aren't very good and Blackburn has thus been an underdog in nine of his 11 starts. If you had wagered $100 on Oakland to win each of those, it would equate to winnings of +$794, just ahead of the number posted by San Diego's Joe Musgrove (+$677), who also takes the mound Friday at home vs. Colorado. (See tickets at StubHub)

The 28-year-old Blackburn is having easily his best season at 5-2 with a 2.62 ERA and 1.06 WHIP – his career numbers tend to indicate this won't continue, and perhaps regression already has begun. Two starts ago, Blackburn allowed four runs over 6.2 innings in a home loss to Houston and then last time out, he allowed four runs over four innings in a home loss to Boston. Granted, those are two very good offensive teams.

Blackburn is 0-2 with a 6.75 ERA and .273 opponents' batting average over those past two starts after going 5-0 with a 1.70 ERA and .211 opponents' batting average over his first nine. Blackburn's wins, games (11), games started (11) and strikeouts (44) are all career highs and his 58.1 innings pitched are 0.1 innings shy of his 58.2 from his rookie campaign of 2017.

He doesn't much like Oakland, apparently, as Blackburn is 1-2 with a 4.38 ERA there but is 4-0 with a 1.14 ERA and .198 opponents' batting average in six starts on the road. He is tied for the AL lead in road wins and ranks second in ERA. Blackburn is 1-1 with a 4.41 ERA in three career starts spanning 16.1 innings against Cleveland.

Triston McKenzie (3-5, 3.10 ERA) is scheduled for Cleveland. He has lost three of his past four starts despite going at least seven innings in all of them. The right-hander won in Oakland on May 1 with 6.1 shutout innings and four hits allowed and seven strikeouts. If bettors had wagered $100 on each of McKenzie's starts this year, they would be up $145.

With the Angels ending their 14-game skid on Thursday, Oakland's nine-game losing streak is now the longest in MLB. 

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