Caleb Wilfinger
The 2nd half of the 2025 MLB season keeps rolling along, and Saturday features a full slate of action for us to enjoy. I’m 53-33 on my MLB best bets this year and the Pickswise MLB handicapping team as a whole is 106-72-7 in this article series this season, including being on a 28-16 run right now. Let’s keep it going as we get into today’s top picks on Saturday, July 26. You can also find out our MLB picks for EVERY GAME today.
MLB best bet: Boston Red Sox F5 -0.5 over Los Angeles Dodgers (-115)
Odds available at BetRivers at time of publishing. Playable to -125.
For my first MLB best bet for today, we’ll focus on an interleague battle between the Boston Red Sox and Los Angeles Dodgers from Fenway Park. The Red Sox have dropped 5 of their last 7 games following a red-hot stretch heading into the All-Star break, but Boston should get back on track with its ace on the mound in the second game of this series. Garrett Crochet has been as advertised to this point, posting a 2.19 ERA to go along with an elite strikeout percentage (30.7%) and strong expected metrics across the board. Even against a Dodgers lineup that has a few of the game’s best hitters, I still expect Crochet to see success on Saturday.
As for the visitors, Los Angeles is countering with Clayton Kershaw. To his credit, Kershaw is still an effective pitcher in his age 37 season, as the living legend currently holds a 3.27 ERA, to go along with allowing just 10 earned runs over his last 6 outings. However, Kershaw is no stranger to allowing hard contact (45.1% hard-hit rate), while also getting far fewer swing-and-miss than even a couple years ago (16.2% strikeout rate). The Red Sox offense should be able to scratch across a couple of runs and lead after 5 innings in this one.
Lock in tonight’s MLB YRFI/NRFI best bets
MLB best bet: Athletics vs Houston Astros F5 Under 4.5 (-135)
Odds available at FanDuel Sportsbook at time of publishing. Playable to -145.
Our 2nd MLB best bet today takes us to Houston, where the Astros are set to host the Athletics. Following one of the greatest games ever played from Nick Kurtz on Friday, I don’t anticipate the Athletics having the same level of success on offense against Astros ace Hunter Brown (2.57 ERA, 31.2% strikeout rate, top 6% hard-hit rate), especially on the road. On the other side, the same can be said of the suddenly struggling Astros offense against Jacob Lopez, a pitcher whose advanced metrics (3.71 xERA, top 15% hard-hit rate and strikeout rate) look a lot better than his actual numbers. I’m targeting a low-scoring game through the first 5 innings in Houston, making this one of my best bets on the Saturday slate.
Don’t miss our full Athletics vs Astros prediction
