Colorado will visit Pittsburgh Friday night to begin their portion of the schedule following the All-Star break. They will send Jorge De La Rosa to the mound. De La Rosa has been the only positive in an ugly Rockies starting rotation despite having a record of 10-6 and an ERA at 4.56. Since June 24, De La Rosa has been dominant, going 4-0 with an ERA of 3.76. He will oppose Pirates lefty Francisco Liriano, who is just 1-7 this year with an ERA of 4.72. We are going to back the Rockies in this contest.
Colorado sitting near the bottom of NL West
The Rockies are just a half-game ahead of the Diamondbacks at the bottom of the NL West standings. Colorado has been relying on De La Rosa the entire season since he has been the one constant in the rotation that has been decimated by injuries. The Rockies will need to have an incredible turnaround in the second-half if they want to make a run at a Wild Card spot, which is very unlikely. The rockies are 12 games out in the Wild Card.
Pittsburgh back into thick of NL Central race
After a shaky start to the season, the Pirates find themselves right back in the middle of the NL Central race in the second-half of the season. The NL Central is the only division in baseball that boasts more than three teams with records over the .500 level. Francisco Liriano will take the mound Friday night for the Pirates with his one win. He has spent time on the disabled list this season outside of his struggles on the mound.
On Friday, when the Pirates host the Rockies, we are going to place our bets at BetOnline.ag. We will drop 10 percent of our bankroll on the struggling Rockies and the hot arm of De La Rosa. Our bet will be on the OVER 7.5 total runs scored at -110 as the Rockies win game one of this series.
Chris Wassel
AA, AAS
CURRENTLY
Sports Writer and Journalist
RESIDES IN
Rahway, NJ
EDUCATION
Union County College, Montclair State University
EXPERTISE
Business, Writing, Sports, Food, Grilling, Olympics, Injuries, Politics, and more
Summary
Member of FSWA, FSGA, and a variety of Sports Betting Groups.
Lead arranger of news and injury reports for Rotoballer Hockey. Also did the news lead for NASCAR on the same site coming out of COVID.
Strategy and mapping out of various sports betting and sports articles for MyNHLTradeRumors and gambling.com.
Runs a hockey and fantasy hockey podcast that teaches fantasy hockey players how to improve their skills.
Experience
Chris Wassel has 20+ years of sports journalistic experience in various disciplines..
His ability to play sports is well documented. Most people in the business just write. However, Chris will race cars and even a super Moto bike from time to time. There is that fitness and hiking/cycling aspect too.
Chris has climbed mountains from Mount Washington to Mount San Jacinto in Palm Springs, California. For those that do not know. Chris also dabbles in food eating contests and challenges. Having a unique background with friends including Joey Chestnut and Casey Webb, Chris has the ability to eat a whole 16-pound turkey or a 32 inch meat lover's pizza.
Since 2013, Chris has primarily focused on sports writing and fitness. On social media, he will answer any question in many different aspects. Even Chris's ability to wager on Entertainment and US Elections is well documented. He was able to predict Joe Biden's inevitable dip in approval rating below 40%.
Throughout his career, Chris has worked at a lot of places from DraftKings to USA Today and much more.
Finally, Chris has been nominated for quite a few awards from the Fantasy Sports Writers Association for Hockey Writer Of The Year. Also, there have been a number of amazing fantasy hockey championships from expert to high-stake leagues.
Education
Chris received an Associates from Union Country College for business and accounting. Chris did sports journalism work at Montclair State University covering the hockey, baseball, and football teams.
Quote from Chris Wassel
"Do Not Think, Just Do.”
Education
1999 Graduate of Union County College
1993 Graduate of Rahway High School
Professional Achievements
Media credentialed member of the New Jersey Devils since 2010
Covered several NHL Drafts including the one day event in Newark in 2013
Been on countless podcasts, TV shows, and more including Sportsnet and even NHL Network