Phillies

Phillies a +120 Underdog Behind Taijuan Walker Against Braves

By Joe Tansey

Published: Apr 9th, 2025 · 1:10 PM EDT

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Taijuan Walker was really good in his first start of the season.

The Phillies hope that version of Walker shows up on Wednesday night in Atlanta, where the Phils are a +120 underdog on the money line.

Walker is objectively the better pitcher than Grant Holmes, but Atlanta gets the slight edge on the betting line because of home field.

Now, there is some reason to be concerned about Walker’s second outing of the campaign.

The heart of the Atlanta order carries impressive numbers against the right-hander. Austin Riley has the best splits with a .417 batting average and a home run in 12 at-bats. Matt Olson, Marcell Ozuna, and Ozzie Albies have all hit over .200 versus Walker in their careers.

The Phils don’t have the same history against Holmes, but there’s reason to be excited about their matchup at the plate.

Holmes allowed four earned runs in his last start against the Dodgers, and, more notably, walked four batters on March 31st.

The Phils have drawn the seventh-most walks in the majors. Holmes’ walk prop sits at over/under 2.5, which is unusually high for any MLB starter. Walker’s walk prop also sits at over/under 2.5. The over is plus-money on both overs. Usually walk props sit at 1.5.

Lefties hit Holmes better in 2024, but righties hit the seven home runs given up by the Braves hurler. Nick Castellanos hit one of those home runs.

Wednesday’s game projected as the best one of the series for batter props because of the pitching matchup.

Castellanos and Kyle Schwarber are the best options from the Phillies lineup. You kinda just have to ride the hot hands until they stop hitting.

A combination of those two and Riley in a total bases parlay is probably the best way to go here. One of them can be used for DraftKings’ Home Run No Sweat promotion. Alternately, there’s online slots and online casinos if this game doesn’t pull you in.