Caleb Wilfinger
The 2025 MLB season keeps rolling along, and Tuesday features a full 15-game slate for us to enjoy. I’m 28-18 on my MLB best bets this year and the Pickswise MLB handicapping team as a whole is 64-47-5 in these MLB best bets this season. Let’s keep it going as we get into today’s top picks on Tuesday, June 17. You can also find out our experts’ MLB picks for all 15 games today!
MLB best bet: San Diego Padres team total over 3.5 vs Los Angeles Dodgers (-130)
Odds available at DraftKings Sportsbook at time of publishing. Playable to -140.
My first MLB best bet for this slate comes in Los Angeles, where I will be targeting the Padres to exceed their team total in this series once again. In the regular season, the matchups between these rivals often center around the offenses, and San Diego’s lineup certainly has the ability to make things hard on opposing pitchers. The Padres are in good position to put up some runs on Tuesday, especially since Los Angeles has yet to decide who will be on the mound. The Dodger bullpen was also heavily used in Monday’s victory, which only further pushes me in the direction of Manny Machado, Fernando Tatis Jr. and the Padres offense. Ultimately, San Diego has put up 23 runs over its last 4 contests against the Dodgers, so let’s back that trend to continue on Tuesday.
Don’t miss our expert Padres vs Dodgers Same Game Parlay picks for tonight on TBS
MLB best bet: Texas Rangers ML over Kansas City Royals (-130)
Odds available at FanDuel Sportsbook at time of publishing. Playable to -130.
For my second MLB best bet on Tuesday’s card, let’s head to Texas for a matchup between the Royals and Rangers at Globe Life Field. Texas has been an extremely frustrating team all season long, but the Rangers are certainly playing better of late and they’ve got a favorable matchup in this one. Jack Leiter (3.88 ERA, 7.3% strikeout-to-walk rate) hasn’t been the most consistent arm in the Texas rotation, but he should see success against a Royals lineup that is extremely prone to striking out and ranks dead last in walk rate across the league. On the other side, Seth Lugo (5.34 xERA, 47.6% hard-hit rate) is certainly due for some regression against a Rangers offense that is a top 5 unit in wRC+, strikeout rate and walk rate this month. I’ll back Texas as short favorites at home.
Read our full Royals vs Rangers prediction for today’s matchup
