When it comes to betting, is there anything worse than a bad beat? We’ve discussed here in the MLB Best Bets and Betting Picks column how difficult betting baseball can be, but when your bet seems like a lock and suddenly the usually sound Texas Rangers bullpen coughs up a five-run lead in the eighth inning for its second collapse in two days? Come on. That’s just brutal and that’s exactly what happened to us yesterday. We got away with one as the Mariners changed pitchers on us midday but still gave us the win, we missed on the over in the Toronto Blue Jays game and our night hung in the balance waiting for the Rangers to close things out. Brutal. Just brutal. But rather than hit you with the ol’ “that’s baseball, Susan,” we’ll just dust ourselves off and get back at it today.

  • Yesterday’s Record: 1-2
  • Season Record: 39-32-1
  • Bankroll: +1.78 units

Early start and a full 15 games today so let’s get at it.

 

 

MLB Best Bets for April 26 

Kansas City Royals at Arizona Diamondbacks

Zac Gallen has been absolutely outstanding over his last three starts, tossing 20.2 scoreless innings with a ridiculous 29:1 K:BB. And as great as Galen has been, the Royals have been equally bad against righthanded pitching. They rank dead-last in wOBA (.260), have a 25-percent strikeout rate, they’re showing very little power (.109 ISO) and they are last in the league in wRC+ with 60. If it wasn’t for concerns over the bullpen, I’d probably be hammering the under on the Royals team total. Instead, I’ll take a look at the full game. I don’t see the Royals hitting much today, so it comes down to the Diamondbacks against lefty Ryan Yarbrough. Arizona is middle-of-the-pack when looking at an offense against southpaws. The .320 wOBA is fine, but they aren’t creating a ton of runs off of it. Somewhere in the middle, yes, but closer towards the bottom third of the league. Arizona has a minus-4 run differential and they’re averaging fewer than five runs per game on the season. This game should stay low-scoring.

Pick: Royals/Diamondbacks under 8.5 runs (-115 on BetMGM)

Chicago White Sox at Toronto Blue Jays

These Blue Jays bats have finally woken up as they’ve won four out of their last five, averaging five runs per game and winning those four games by an average of almost five runs each time. They’ll get Michael Kopech today and while there isn’t a lengthy history between him and this lineup, the advantage tilts towards the Jays who do have some success against him. But it’s also more about what Kopech looks like right now as he’s coughed up 16 earned runs over 20.2 innings and has allowed eight home runs on the year. Couple that with Yusei Kikuchi’s success this season, as he’s allowed just one run in three of his fourt starts and has done it against some pretty formidable lineups like the Rays and Yankees. The White Sox are a below-average hitting team against left-handed pitching this season and they’ve been spiraling down the drain having lost their last six. With the Jays having won three of Kikuchi’s starts by more than three runs each, we’ll bypass the money line and bank on the home team getting it done early and holding on for dear life.

Pick: Toronto Blue Jays -1.5 Run Line (+105 on Caesars Sportsbook)

Oakland Athletics at Los Angeles Angels

Despite the beating Patrick Sandoval took from the Yankees his last time out, we’re going to back him tonight against an Oakland team that is just terrible. Sure, there are times when they have stepped up, but Sandoval has already seen them, allowing just one run over five innings on Opening Day, and while they’ve hit some lefties reasonably well at times, I don’t think they can outscore the Angels by game’s end. Not with Triple-A starter Luis Medina on the mound. Medina has only thrown 9.1 innings in Triple-A this season and now he’s expected to make his debut against Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani? I don’t see this ending well for him. And what’s worse is that a quick hook for Medina unleashes an already overworked A’s bullpen that has a 9.36 ERA over the past seven days. I wish there was more value on the money line, so we’ll buck the trend and take another home favorite to cover the run line.

Pick: Los Angeles Angels -1.5 Run Line (-115 on Caesars Sportsbook)

 *all bets are one unit unless specifically mentioned