Ricky Dimon
The week in Major League Baseball continues with a full 15-game slate on Saturday. It features Cubs vs Yankees, Mariners vs Tigers, Dodgers vs Giants and Rays vs Red Sox. The Pickswise team has been in fine form so far this season. I’m 49-33-2 record so far in this best bets piece while going 4-for-9 on Same Game Parlays at +481, +632, +439 and +600 odds and 8-6 on YRFI/NRFI picks. Pickswise’s MLB handicapping team on the whole is 93-63-6 on their best bets. Let’s keep it going as we get into my MLB best bets of the day!
Also don’t forget to check out our MLB picks for Saturday’s slate.
MLB best bet: New York Yankees ML over Chicago Cubs (-164)
Odds available at FanDuel Sportsbook at time of publishing
Max Fried is taking the mound on Saturday, and that is pretty much always good news for the Yankees – especially at home. Fried (11-2, 2.27 ERA, 0.96 WHIP) is sporting a 1.82 ERA in the Bronx to go along with a 4-0 record. New York is 7-1 when the left-hander pitches at home, so there really is no need to overthink this one – even though a formidable opponent is in town.
The Cubs are 16 games over .500, but they are just 2 games over .500 on the road. They will also be trying to rebound from a terrible 11-0 loss in Friday’s series opener. Chicago is going with Matthew Boyd (9-3, 2.52 ERA), who should be able to steady the ship at least in part. However, opponents are batting .257 against him when he is on the road compared to .207 at Wrigley Field. Fried doesn’t need much run support, so he should get enough.
MLB best bet: Boston Red Sox ML over Tampa Bay Rays (-185)
Odds available at Bet365 Sportsbook at time of publishing
Even at this relatively steep -185 price, the Red Sox still have nice value on the money line. That’s just how good you have to feel about them when they are playing at home and have Garrett Crochet toeing the rubber. Crochet is 9-4 with a 2.39 ERA, 1.09 WHIP and 151 strikeouts compared to only 34 walks in 120.1 innings. Boston has won his last 2 home starts, including 1 against the rival Yankees. It will also help that Tampa Bay has little to no familiarity with him; in fact, nobody on the Rays’ active roster has ever gotten a hit off Crochet.
The Rays are countering with Shane Baz, who comes in with a 4.34 ERA. He befuddled the Red Sox in his first head-to-head matchup of the 2025 campaign, but the right-hander faced them again on June 9 and surrendered 3 earned runs in 5.1 innings. Boston should be more comfortable heading into this contest – especially Alex Bregman, who is 5-for-9 lifetime against Baz with a home run and 2 doubles. Tampa Bay has lost each of Baz’s 2 starts this month. Mainly because he is opposing Crochet, look for that skid to hit 3.
