Ricky Dimon
The week in Major League Baseball continues with a more than full 17-game schedule on Wednesday. I’m red hot in the early stages of the season, with a 26-15-1 record so far in this best bets piece while going 3-for-5 on Same Game Parlays at +481, +632 and +439 odds and 5-1 on YRFI/NRFI picks. Pickswise’s MLB handicapping team on the whole is 41-21-2 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 Wednesday, May 14.
MLB best bet: Philadelphia Phillies F5 -0.5 vs St. Louis Cardinals (Game 1) (-130)
Odds available at bet365 at time of publishing
Bryce Harper alone getting 2 or 3 at-bats against Erick Fedde should be enough for Philadelphia to take an early lead – and probably a commanding one – against St. Louis in game 1 of their double-header. Harper is an unbelievable 11-for-22 lifetime versus Fedde with 6 home runs. As if that isn’t enough, Kyle Schwarber is 3-for-7 with a homer and J.T. Realmuto is 5-for-20 with a dinger and 2 doubles.
The Cardinals are 2-5 in Fedde’s last 7 starts, while the Phillies are 3-0 in Jesus Luzardo’s last 3 appearances. Luzardo is 3-0 with a 2.11 ERA a 51-to-13 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 47.0 innings of work. With Luzardo on the mound and Harper teeing off against Fedde, I see no reason why the home team should not have a lead midway through this contest. And I like the Phillies on the F5 line since it eliminates their questionable bullpen from the equation.
Read our full Cardinals vs Phillies Game 1 prediction
MLB best bet: Toronto Blue Jays ML over Tampa Bay Rays (-155)
Odds available at FanDuel Sportsbook at time of publishing
Even at relatively short odds, Toronto has good value on the money line with Chris Bassitt toeing the rubber. Bassitt is 3-2 with a 3.35 ERA to go along with 49 strikeouts and only 8 walks in 45.2 innings. The Blue Jays have won his 2 most recent outings both by multiple runs. You have to think the right-hander will get plenty of run support, too. The Jays have scored 8, 6, 6, 9 and 9 runs over their past 5 games.
Ryan Pepiot has not been bad for the Rays this season, but they are 1-4 in his last 5 starts. Three of those 4 losses have come by at least 3 runs. Tampa Bay did well to take the series opener on Tuesday, but overall it is not playing particularly well at the moment (5-8 in its last 13 contests). Give me Toronto to take care of business at home.
Find out our best MLB player prop bet for today, targeting Angels vs Padres
