Caleb Wilfinger
The 2025 MLB season keeps rolling along, and Saturday features a more-than-full slate of 16-game slate for us to enjoy. I’m 19-9 on my MLB best bets and the Pickswise MLB handicapping team as a whole is 49-27-4 in these MLB best bets this season. Let’s keep it going as we get into today’s top picks on Saturday, May 24.
Also, don’t forget to check out our MLB picks for EVERY game today.
MLB best bet: Los Angeles Dodgers vs New York Mets Over 8.5 (-110)
Odds available at FanDuel Sportsbook at time of publishing. Playable to -120.
For my first best bet on Saturday’s slate, I’m going back to the well with the over in New York for this highly-anticipated showdown between the Mets and Dodgers. Following 13 innings of high-stakes baseball on Friday, both bullpens are pretty depleted and both offenses should be in position to succeed. While the top of the order didn’t come through in the series opener, the Mets’ offense is still the strength of their team, especially with David Peterson getting the start in this matchup. The southpaw’s numbers are solid on paper, but his advanced metrics (47.7% hard-hit rate, 3.99 xERA, bottom 20 percentile expected batting average and average exit velocity) do suggest that regression is coming sooner rather than later. Against a deep and experienced Dodgers lineup, I could certainly see Peterson struggling in this spot.
As for the visitors, the Dodgers have been far from perfect on the mound, both in their starting rotation and bullpen. And while Tony Gonsolin (4.05 ERA, 10.7% walk rate) has been pretty decent for Dave Roberts’ team, he’ll be facing his toughest task yet against a Mets lineup (9th in OPS, 8th in on-base percentage & slugging) that doesn’t make things easy on opposing pitchers. All things considered, let’s back the over for the second straight night in New York.
Read our full Dodgers vs Mets prediction for tonight’s game
MLB best bet: Philadelphia Phillies team total Over 5.5 (-108)
Odds available at DraftKings Sportsbook at time of publishing. Playable to -120.
For my second MLB best bet on Saturday, we’re heading to Sacramento for a matchup between the Phillies and Athletics. Philadelphia took the series opener on Friday, and while I lean toward backing the Phillies on the side, I’m much more confident in banking on a higher-scoring affair on Saturday. During their 10-game losing streak, the Athletics pitching staff has been bleeding runs, as they’ve allowed a whopping 7.6 runs per game in this span.
Furthermore, Athletics starter Jeffrey Springs holds a 6.30 ERA at home, while their bullpen ranks 28th in team ERA across baseball. Don’t expect these numbers to improve against a Phillies lineup that is averaging over 5 runs per game in their last 8 contests. Let’s back the Phillies team total over in this interleague clash.
