VSiN PrimeTime | July 24, 2026 | Hour 4

**SPEAKER_1** (0:01)
This is VSiN PrimeTime. Live from the Circus Sportsbook in downtown Las Vegas on VSiN, the SportsBetting Network.

**Dustin Swedelson** (0:14)
Rolling on VSiN PrimeTime, Dustin Swedelson with Will Hill. Appreciate you making us part of your day night. However, you may be tuning in, SiriusXM Channel 158, YouTube TV, The Visa Watch App and radio affiliates across the United States of God Bless America. Saturday brings a full baseball card, some superstars on display, some really good pitching matchups that jumped out to me.
And one thing that stood out when I was looking at the numbers here, Will, Paul Skeens is gonna take the hill against the Chicago Cubs. And right now Paul Skeens, you can get at minus 136 Chota Imanaga on the other end for the Cubbies is a little plus money. And I'm gonna back Paul Skeens here.
Imanaga on the Cubs plus a dollar 13
I just think as long as they're gonna discount Skeens because they don't believe in him, I'm gonna take it until it doesn't work. His last time out, he was pretty good. Seven innings, seven hits. And he doesn't allow, he allows one run and eight strikeouts. Start prior that against Milwaukee, he was solid, nothing spectacular. Five and a third, two earns. Seven strikeouts against Milwaukee before that. Six innings, two earned. Four strikeouts against the Braves. That's three in a row after a rough one against Philadelphia prior to all of that. I just think that Paul Skeens in the second half is going to turn it on a little bit. At some point, he goes back to being the guy that he's been for a couple of years now. I'm going to take the minus 136 Do you think it's crazy? But let me also add real quick, part of the handicap is the Pittsburgh offense, really good against left-handed pitchers this year. And Imanaga has not blown it by people these days.

**Will Hill** (1:50)
Yeah, and really good just in general. I think if you ask most people, who scored the second most runs in baseball or average in the second most runs in baseball? You might get Dodgers, Yankees, Nationals are number one. Not a lot of people would guess the Pirates, but over five runs a game, almost five and three quarters runs per game at home.
The best mark in baseball, which is really impressive. My only hesitation, and look, I'm not looking to bet the Cubs here, Skeens was good last time against Cleveland. Not like he's been horrible. Seven innings, one run last time out. He's just not Skeens like. When you look at the velocity, 95, 96, 97 Hey, that was pure gas when we were growing up, 90s, early 2000s. That's not Skeens like though. He's more 99, 100 when he's right. So I'm just worried he's not quite right. I don't know if it's mechanics, arm fatigue. If he's battling something, maybe he bounces back. And one of these times he looks like Skeens throwing the ball 100 miles an hour. That is my only hesitation with that. Do you think, what do you think it is, the drop in velocity here? Do you think he's in the middle of a long season, these things happen? Do you think it's a longer term concern? What do you make of it when you see a pitcher whose velocity ticks down like it has with Skeens?

**Dustin Swedelson** (2:56)
I'll go deep in the conspiracy bag, and it's more that I think he thinks this team is going to be playing baseball into the fall, and he's just managed himself a little bit differently. He's not going 99% max effort, maybe dialing it back to 92 and seeing what he can get away with before having to ramp up when it matters down the stretch. Now, that could be a fool's errand if you're not playing in October, but I do think there's an Elmer, he knows that he's going to be pitching deeper than he's ever had to before, so there's a chance he just doesn't give it his all. That is my conspiracy, I have nothing really to prove me right, but that's just what I'm looking at with him. There could be something major that's the cause for all of these issues for him, but until they start pricing him like he's Paul Skeens again, I'll take the minus 136 there with him at home against the Cubbies. How about this one? You and I were talking about totals, and if you're going to bet in under 7.5 at a really low number here, you better think the pitchers are really special. Can I make that case with Dylan Cease against Sunny Gray, Toronto and Boston doing battle at 1:10 p.m. on the West Coast, with 4.05 on the East Coast?