Ricky Dimon
The final week of the 2025 Major League Baseball regular season continues with a 12-game slate on Thursday. It includes Dodgers vs Diamondbacks, Tigers vs Guardians, Red Sox vs Blue Jays and Mets vs Cubs. The Pickswise team is on an 43-25 run in this MLB best bets series. Let’s build on that momentum and hopefully deliver some more winners today!
Make sure you also check out our MLB picks for every game on Thursday, September 25.
MLB best bet: Cleveland Guardians ML over Detroit Tigers (-166)
Odds available at Bet365 Sportsbook at time of publishing
There is absolutely no way I’m backing the Tigers under any circumstances until they actually win another game. Once a virtual lock to win the AL Central, Detroit has lost 8 games in a row and 11 of its last 12 to fall 1 game behind Cleveland in the division. The Guardians also own the head-to-head tiebreaker, so Thursday is a virtual must-win situation for the visitors. There is a ton of pressure on the Tigers, and to say they haven’t been handling it well over the past couple of weeks would be a gross understatement.
The pitching situation does not help matters for Detroit. As of Thursday morning, it is undecided on its starter. Whatever the case, the bullpen will likely be involved early and often – which is bad news given that Tigers relievers have a 4.11 season-long ERA and have been especially bad of late. Cleveland is going with Parker Messick, who is 3-0 with a 2.08 ERA and a 31-to-5 strikeout-to-walk ratio. The sample size is small for this 24-year-old rookie, but early returns are encouraging. Count on the Guardians once again victimizing a beleaguered opponent and all but wrapping up the division in hard-to-believe fashion.
MLB best bet: Chicago Cubs ML over New York Mets (-108)
Odds available at FanDuel Sportsbook at time of publishing
The Mets are in total collapse mode. It isn’t generating as many headlines as it probably should because the Tigers’ meltdown is overshadowing everything – and because other NL wild-card card contenders like the Reds and Diamondbacks are failing to take advantage. New York is 5-12 in its last 17 games and 1-3 in its last 4. The losing streak probably should be 4 right now, but the Mets somehow managed to come back from 6-1 down against the Cubs on Tuesday before getting blown out 10-3 in the second game of the series.
New York’s Nolan McLean is a solid starter, but his sample size of success is at home. Moreover, he has at least been somewhat hittable on the road (2.45 ERA and .219 opponent batting average on the road compared to 0.37 and .176, respectively, at Citi Field). Chicago counters with Shota Imanaga, who is 9-7 with a 3.37 ERA and 0.96 WHIP. The Cubs are 46-30 at Wrigley Field this season, while the Mets are 32-44 away from home.
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