Sports Handicapper William Burns's Picks & Predictions

(#951) Chicago Cubs | ML | . 

Colin Rea (1-0, 3.18 ERA) vs. Aaron Nola (1-1, 3.63 ERA) . 

I know that Aaron Nola has definitely had more success over the course of his career than Collin Rea. But, that definitely doesn't always predict the outcome of the game. There are 162 games in the MLB season. There's going to be ups and downs. For the Phillies, they have struggled as of late, dropping five of their past eight contests. Nola has been decent so far, but he's coming off the worst season of his career & this matchup is not an easy one. He's allowed three earned runs in 2/3 starts so far. Rea, on the other hand, has yet to allow more than two runs in a start. He allowed just two hits in 5.1 innings in his last start @TB. I like the Cubs to steal this one after a bad pitching performance yesterday. 

Burns' Prediction: 6-3 Cubs.

(#965) Tampa Bay Rays | ML | . 

Shane McClanahan (0-1, 4.15 ERA) vs. Noah Schultz (0-0, 0.00 ERA) . 

Even though the recovery from "Tommy John Surgery" is definitely one of the biggest that there is in the injury world, pitchers can still be very elite after doing so. McClanahan, who missed all of 2024 & 2025 as a result, has looked very solid since returning through two appearances. No, he's probably not going to go too far considering that the Rays are easing him in still. But, I expect him to continue to improve and this is a great matchup for him. 

On the other side of the ball, Noah Schultz will be making his long awaited MLB debut for the White Sox. This guy has the intangibles to be strong in the big leagues. But, the first start is always a bit nerve wracking for anyone. The White Sox have scored only 17 runs over the past eight games. That's an average of 2.1 per game. With not much run support at the moment, I've got Shane having the better pitching performance here, leading to a Rays win. 

Burns' Prediction: 5-2 Rays.

(#67) Montreal Canadiens | ML | . 

Even though both teams have successfully now secured a spot in the playoffs, I believe that there's excellent value in playing on this hockey matchup. Montreal, who's in an absolute war for seeding at the moment, is tied with Tampa & two points behind Buffalo in the Atlantic standings. As it stands, the Canadiens would finish third on the tiebreaker. But, with a game left on the schedule, Montreal can still get past TB and claim home ice advantage in the first round. A win is crucial here for that to happen though, considering that the Lightning play the Rangers on Thursday, which should be a win. 

Philadelphia, on the other hand, just clinched a spot in the playoffs itself with a win against Carolina yesterday evening. This is a gigantic let-down spot for the Flyers, who cannot move up or down in the standings anymore and will play against Pittsburgh in opening round of the playoffs. I believe that the Flyers could rest some guys as a result. Hammer Montreal in this one on Tuesday. 

Burns' Prediction: 4-1 Canadiens.

(#8032) Lorenzo Musetti | GAME SPREAD | . 

Lorenzo Musetti is one of the best players in the world and although he lost in the opening round of Monte Carlo, he's a fantastic player on the clay surface and this should be an opponent that helps him get going again this year. Musetti ran into a scorching hot Vacherot in the last tournament, who made it to the quarterfinals. He's going to be just fine for this one against a wildcard player. 

Looking at the other side of things, Martin Landaluce has been back and forth between the Challenger Tour and the Main Tour this season, most recently playing at the slightly lower level. He's got some good stuff at times, but just lost 6-1, 6-4 against Collignon in the semis. Musetti is a much stronger foe than Collignon. Give me the Italian. 

Burns' Prediction: 6-3, 6-2 Musetti.

(#563) Portland Trail Blazers @ (#564) Phoenix Suns | OVER | . 

This line continues to come down and I'm not sure why. I believe that it's going in the wrong direction. Phoenix does play rather slow. However, the Suns are also more than capable of putting points on the board. They shoot a ton of 3-balls & make 14.8 per game which is good for top five in the NBA. Having just scored 135 on the #1 seed - OKC, I expect the Suns to be feeling very confident for this basketball game. 

Portland plays on the faster side of things, the pace should cancel out here and it should be a fairly average paced contest. The Blazers also shoot a lot of threes and make 14.5 per game (7th.) They've scored 238 points over the past couple of games, good for an average of 119 per game. 

There's also something to be said about playoff ball being more physical and defensive minded. Now, that's true. But, considering the fact that two of the three matchups saw 235+ points when these two teams matched up, I like this one to go at least "over" 220. The time that these teams went way "under" in February, the Suns had practically its whole team out and Portland didn't have Sharpe. Hammer the "over" in this one. 

Burns' Prediction: 117-112 Suns.

(#975) Cleveland Guardians @ (#976) St. Louis Cardinals | UNDER | . 

Joey Cantillo (1-0, 2.46 ERA) vs. Michael McGreevy (1-1, 2.16 ERA) . 

Over the years, I've leaned towards the "under" in most games involving the Guardians. It's not that they don't have the ability to score a ton of runs. But, they normally have really solid pitching and have a contact approach offensively, leading to more base hits and not as many home-runs. Last year, I won 60% of the time doing so. This year, I expect to use a similar style of approach, depending on the situation and pitching matchup. 

Both of these two pitchers have been great so far, with ERA's below 2.50. Cantillo is an up and coming 26yr old Hawaiian left-hander with a ton of strikeout ability. He's yet to allow more than two runs in a start and Cleveland's won every time he's stepped on the mound. On the other hand, the same could be said about Michael McGreevy. He's a 25yr old right hander that does not issue walks. He's also got a 0.78 WHIP through three starts. 

All in all, I'm expecting a low scoring contest here on Tuesday. Both of these pitchers have more to prove and get the opportunity to shine against each other here in this one. Give me the "under" as my #1 MLB TOTAL OF THE MONTH. 

Burns' Prediction: 3-2 Guardians.

(#224217) Barcelona FC | 3-WAY ML | . 

Despite it being a 2-0 home defeat for Barcelona in the first leg, the Spanish giants looked excellent for the majority of the match. It created tons of opportunities and chances that were simply just missed. Teams can always suffer defeats in just one contest and even though it came in a bad time for Barca, I just don't see it losing a second consecutive contest against the same team that knocked it out of the Copa Del Rey. 

Talking about the Copa Del Rey, Atletico Madrid has done a phenomenal job far this year of navigating through difficult tournaments. No, it's not going to win the La Liga and it knows that. But, if it can win these games and have a chance at the ultimate prize, it's all worth it. 

That being said, if Barca gets eliminated by ATM again for the second tournament in 2026, this season will be a failure even despite looking like it's going to win the La Liga. The goal is to win Champions League's at the end of the day and if Barcelona fails to reach the final eight, this year will be a complete disaster. Expect Barcelona to win this game at the very least and give itself a chance. 

Burns' Prediction: 4-1 Barca (4-3 on Agg.)