Dodgers vs. Braves prediction and odds for Monday, May 22 (LA undervalued)

The Los Angeles Dodgers travel to face the Atlanta Braves in a measuring stick series in Atlanta.

These two have been the class of the National League over the last several years in the regular season, and this season is no different with each team entering in first place in its respective division. Gavin Stone gets the ball for Los Angeles as the rookie looks to outduel 16-year veteran Charlie Morton.

Here are the odds and our best bet for Monday's series opener:

Dodgers vs. Braves odds, run line and total

Dodgers vs. Braves prediction and pick

Stone has only made one start in the big leagues back on May 3 against the Philadelphia Phillies, allowing four earned runs and eight hits in four innings of work. He'll have a stiff test on Monday against a Braves lineup that is top five in wRC+ this season, meaning that this team is amongst the best at generating high quality run scoring chances.

However, the Braves are cooling off lately, 16th in on-base percentage over the last 15 days (11 games). With some variance in play on an unknown commodity in Stone, I will continue to fade this Braves offense.

On the other side, the Dodgers continue to not hit for average that well, .234 over the last 15 days (13 games), but the team is above league average in terms of OBP in that time span, ahead of the Braves.

The real edge for LA is the team's ability to draw walks, which has been one of the issues for the veteran Morton, who has lost some of his command over the last several years. Morton has walked more than three batters per nine innings, which is going to be a crucial point in this game against the Dodgers MLB best walk rate (11.4%).

If Morton can't limit walks, the Braves are in trouble in this one. I'll take a shot on the Dodgers in a rare spot of underdog.

Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.