MLB Best Bets Today: Matchups, Odds, Picks, and Predictions

The first month of the baseball season ends Saturday as teams continue to inch closer to being in midseason form. We have highlighted the odds, movements, and our most confident wagers for Saturday’s MLB action.

Several teams are starting to hit their strides three weeks into the season, as the New York Yankees, Los Angeles Angels, and Miami Marlins enter Saturday with at least six-game winning streaks. Conversely, five teams have lost at least four straight games, and bettors who have gotten onside with either of these streaks have profited.

Here are our best bets for Friday’s MLB slate (odds via FanDuel Sportsbook, DraftKings Sportsbook, Caesars Sportsbook, Foxbet, and Pointsbet; pick confidence is based on a 1-to-5-star scale).

Saturday’s MLB Schedule and Odds

(Odds via FanDuel)

• Arizona Diamondbacks (+140) vs. St. Louis Cardinals (-160)
• Houston Astros (+115) vs. Toronto Blue Jays (-135)
• Los Angeles Angels (-105) vs. Chicago White Sox (-115)
• Washington Nationals (+200) vs. San Francisco Giants (-250)
• Cleveland Guardians (-155) vs. Oakland Athletics (+135)
• Minnesota Twins (+145) vs. Tampa Bay Rays (-165)
• Seattle Mariners (-115) vs. Miami Marlins (-105)
• San Diego Padres (-165) vs. Pittsburgh Pirates (+145)
• Boston Red Sox (-180) vs. Baltimore Orioles (+155)
• Atlanta Braves (-110) vs. Texas Rangers (-110)
• Philadelphia Phillies (+100) vs. New York Mets (-120)
• Chicago Cubs (+130) vs. Milwaukee Brewers (-150)
• New York Yankees (-195) vs. Kansas City Royals (+165)
• Cincinnati Reds (+130) vs. Colorado Rockies (-150)
• Detroit Tigers (+245) vs. Los Angeles Dodgers (-310)

Check out our top-rated sportsbooks here

Saturday’s MLB Best Bets

• Moneyline: Mariners (-110 via Caesars) vs. Marlins ★★★★
• Spread: Yankees -1.5 (-120 via PointsBet) vs. Royals ★★★★
• Total: Padres-Pirates Over 7 (-106 via FanDuel) ★★★★★
• Upset: Astros (+125 via Foxbet) vs. Blue Jays ★★★★
• Prop bet: Angels Over 4.5 (-105 via DraftKings) ★★★★★
• Parlay: Joey Votto to record a hit (-290) + Kyle Schwarber home run (+385) = +552 (via FanDuel) ★★

Saturday’s MLB Top Picks

Moneyline: Mariners (-110)

Caesars is offering reasonable Moneyline odds to back the defending American League Cy Young Award winner in this road start. The Marlins are red-hot, but Robbie Ray (2-1, 3.91) is the perfect foil to Miami’s offense. The Marlins are ranked 21st or lower in batting average and OPS against left-handed pitching, and they’re not going to face many better left-handers all season than Ray.

Seattle has dominated as a road favorite, going 9-1 in its last 10 games in that role. Ray should lead his team to another victory.

Spread: Yankees -1.5 (-120)

Gerrit Cole got back to his dominant self, just one start removed from the shortest outing of his career. Cole (1-0, 4.00) lasted just 1 2/3 innings against Detroit and was yanked after allowing five walks and two runs. However, Cole has momentum heading into this start, as he held the Guardians scoreless over 6 2/3 innings while allowing just four hits and striking out nine in his last appearance. The most important statistic was that he walked just one batter and had much better command of the strike zone.

Kansas City’s Carlos Hernandez (0-0, 6.43) is not built to take advantage of New York’s biggest weakness, which is that its lineup is strikeout prone. Hernandez has just five strikeouts in 14 innings this season, which means he is unlikely to expose the Yankees’ lineup that ranks in the top 10 in terms of highest strikeout rate.

SEE ALSO: World Series Odds and Picks

Total: Padres-Pirates Over 7 (-106)

Pittsburgh’s JT Brubaker (0-2, 6.46) could single-handedly be responsible for this game going Over the projected total, as he allowed four earned runs in each of his first three starts. However, the Padres are the best offense he’s faced all season, and their bats are hot entering this game with 31 runs over the last four.

Pittsburgh’s chances of scoring runs are also better than usual against Padres lefty Sean Manaea (2-2, 3.47). The Pirates’ usually anemic offense ranks in the top half of the league with a .235 team batting average against left-handed pitching.

The Over has cashed in San Diego’s last six road games against teams with a losing record and is 2-0-2 in Brubaker’s previous four starts against teams over .500.

FanDuel is offering the least juice for Over backers, as other sportsbooks are as high as -125 on that side of the total.

Upset: Astros (+125)

The Blue Jays are 5-0 in Jose Berrios’ last five starts, but you rarely get odds this good for Houston, making me eager to back the underdog. Houston is a perfect 3-0 as a road underdog this season and a profitable 15-14 in that role dating back to the start of last season.

Luis Garcia allowed five earned runs in six innings in a start last week against Toronto, but the team battled back from a 4-1 deficit to win in extra innings. The Astros have won all three of Garcia’s starts this season, and he should make the necessary adjustments against the Blue Jays’ lineup and pitch much better in this rematch.

Foxbet is where Astros backers want to shop, as only one other sportsbook (FanDuel) is offering better than +116 odds at the moment.

Prop bet: Angels Over 4.5 (-105)

The Angels are the league’s highest-scoring offense and the only one to score more than 100 runs this season. Their offense should be salivating to face Chicago’s Vince Velasquez (0-2, 6.75), who has allowed three home runs in 12 innings this year and has failed to complete five innings in any of his three starts.

Velasquez has allowed a hard-hit percentage of 51.4 since the start of last season, which is well above the league average. The Over is 7-2-1 in Los Angeles’ last 10 road games, and its offense should do its part in making this a high-scoring affair.

Parlay: Votto hit (-290) + Schwarber home run (+385) = +552

Votto is off to a horrible start, batting just .136 (9-for-66) with just one extra-base hit. However, if there’s one pitcher whom he could work out of a slump against, it is Colorado’s Chad Kuhl. Votto is 7-for-15 against Kuhl in his career.

Schwarber is a great bet to go yard, as he has a whopping five home runs in 11 career at-bats against New York’s Taijuan Walker. The +552 odds we are getting on this parlay are more than generous.

Where to Bet on MLB Best Bets

Here are our top-rated sportsbooks:

• FanDuel Sportsbook
• Caesars Sportsbook
• DraftKings Sportsbook
• PointsBet review
• BetMGM

SEE ALSO: All picks, odds, and sports betting news. Be sure to check out SportsbookReview.com’s community forums and betting tools.

MLB odds and best bets from 4/30/2022 at 7:17 a.m. ET

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