After splitting a pair of baseball bets yesterday, we're 64-50 on the year. The Cubs bats continued to stay hot, as they swept away the Pirates. Unfortunately, the Padres pitchers let us down by giving up 8 runs to the Guardians.
Here are 4 MLB Best Bets for Friday, June 16. Let's roll into the weekend with some winnings! Good luck!
Best Bet: Cubs F5 (-110)
We hate fading the Orioles, but the Cubbies have won 5 of 6 and they've got the much better starting pitcher on the mound today. Kyle Hendricks looks to finally be healthy, as his ERA is 3.09 and his WHIP is at 1.07. The veteran righty is also missing a lot of barrels, as his hard-hit rate is only 33.3%.
On the flip side, Baltimore is starting one of their worst pitchers in Cole Irvin. The lefty's ERA is almost 8 and his WHIP is 1.75. Command issues have been plaguing Irvin all year, and that'll be an issue against a Cubs lineup that hits lefties pretty well. The O's have the better bullpen, so we'll play the Cubbies in the first 5 innings.
Best Bet: Reds (+150)
The Reds are still not getting any respect in the market, and we'll keep riding them until the oddsmakers adjust. Cincy has won 5 in a row and 8 of their last 10. They're starting rookie Andrew Abbott, who's 2-0 this year and has yet to give up a run.
The Astros are tough to beat, especially at home, but their lineup just isn't that scary now that Yordan Alvarez is on the injured list. Abbott has a nasty curveball, and we think he'll cruise through this Houston lineup 2 or 3 times. Give us this nice underdog price!
Best Bet: Rays (-104)
Don't overthink this one! The Rays are the best team in baseball and Shane McClanahan is the probable Cy Young award winner at this point. Getting Tampa at basically a pick'em price feels like stealing.
The Padres burned us last night and they used up a lot of their bullpen in the 8-6 loss to the Guardians. Yu Darvish has pitched solid this season, but we'll take McClanahan over him any day.
Best Bet: Phillies (-134)
The Phillies are slowly starting to figure things out, as they've won 8 out of their last 10 games. The A's are playing much better as well, as they've won 7 of 10. However, Oakland is still a AAA ball club, and we don't mind fading them at this reasonable price point.
We'll bank on a big day from Kyle Schwarber (18 HR) and Nick Castellanos (.316 BA, 42 RBI) in this one. Lay the moderate price with the Phillies in the late game.
