Caleb Wilfinger
The 2nd half of the 2025 MLB season continues rolling along today, and Friday features a full slate of action for us to enjoy. I’m 56-36 on my MLB best bets this year and the Pickswise MLB handicapping team as a whole is 111-81-7 in this article series this season! Let’s keep it going as we get into today’s top predictions on Friday, August 1. You can also find out our MLB picks for EVERY GAME today.
MLB best bet: San Diego Padres -1.5 over St. Louis Cardinals (+140)
Odds available at DraftKings Sportsbook at time of publishing. Playable to +125.
For my first MLB best bet for today, we’ll focus on a National League matchup between the St. Louis Cardinals and San Diego Padres. San Diego has been absolutely rolling of late, and that’s continued into this week, as the Padres swept the Mets and continue to creep closer to the division-leading Los Angeles Dodgers. I’m expecting this positive momentum to continue into Friday’s contest against a Cardinals team that was just swept by the Marlins and is drifting further and further away from the NL Wild Card race.
St. Louis starting pitcher Matthew Liberatore owns a 4.04 ERA this season and is backed by a bullpen that shouldn’t offer much resistance to a San Diego lineup that has recently found its footing in a major way. As for the Padres, they’ll be rolling out Nick Pivetta, who has proven to be an excellent pitcher at home, where he boasts a 2.07 ERA compared to his much weaker numbers on the road. All things considered, the Padres to win my multiple runs is my favorite bet on the board for Friday’s action, especially at +140 odds.
Read our full Cardinals vs Padres prediction for tonight
MLB best bet: Cincinnati Reds F5 -0.5 over Atlanta Braves (+100)
Odds available at FanDuel Sportsbook at time of publishing. Playable to -115.
Our 2nd MLB best bet today takes us to Cincinnati, where we’ll be looking to fade the Braves for the 2nd consecutive day in this column. Despite the fact that Atlanta won a wild opening game of this series, these teams are generally heading in completely different directions, as Cincinnati is in the hunt for the final NL Wild Card spot while Atlanta has dropped 8 of its last 11 games and now sits at a staggering 16 games under .500 on the campaign.
Things won’t get any easier for Atlanta with Bryce Elder on the mound, as the Braves starter currently holds a 6.29 ERA with a whopping 3.6 walks per 9 innings. Elder will be opposed by Reds starter Brady Singer, who doesn’t offer much in the way of season-long ERA, but he has surrendered just 3 runs or fewer in 11 of his last 13 outings. Let’s take Cincinnati to lead after 5 innings for the 2nd straight contest.
Don’t miss our Braves vs Reds prediction for today (starts 12:40 pm ET!)
