The dust is finally settling from yesterday's 2023 MLB Trade Deadline and we now have a slightly clearer view on buying or selling teams with the playoff picture coming into focus. Our top MLB bets today feature a few teams that made MLB trades yesterday and are all fighting Wild Card spots or divisional bragging rights. As you enjoy some afternoon baseball, check out these MLB betting picks for Wednesday night's slate. Top MLB picks and baseball bets for tonight feature an NL East showdown between the Philadelphia Phillies and Miami Marlins, and then the Baltimore Orioles vs Toronto Blue Jays in an AL East matchup. Read on to find MLB bets, MLB player props, and baseball picks for Wednesday night's games. Don't forget to check out the latest MLB weather report and the confirmed MLB lineups when placing MLB betting picks. Plus, the MLB daily projections and MLB Batter vs Pitcher page will help you find the best matchups for MLB player props. Let's now jump into the MLB best bets and baseball betting picks for Wednesday, August 2nd.

 

MLB Best Bets for August 2

Philadelphia Phillies vs Miami Marlins – 6:40 pm ET

This matchup between NL East rivals has plenty of postseason implications with both the Philadelphia Phillies and Miami Marlins fighting for an NL Wild Card spot. The Phillies have had the upper hand on the Marlins in this series so far, winning the first two games and pulling ahead in the standings. Tonight, Philly will look to make it three straight with a notable pitching advantage and plenty of momentum. Zack Wheeler had a shaky first half of this season, but he’s been much more consistent lately. The righy has a 2.18 ERA in three starts since the All-Star break and has turned in quality starts in seven of his last nine outings with a 3.04 ERA in this span. Wheeler’s 2.74 FIP and 3.17 xERA suggest there’s still some positive regression coming to his current 3.74 ERA as well – and we’re starting to see that. Bank on him having another good outing against a shaky Marlins offense that’s one of the worst in the league vs right-handed pitching since the break (.288 wOBA, 81 wRC+). Plus, Wheeler boasts a strong 2.46 career ERA against the Marlins spanning a number of years in the division with the Mets and Phillies. 

So, that’s one side of the bet. Meanwhile, the Phillies offense should provide some run support in its own matchup vs Braxton Garrett. The Marlins left-hander is having an up-and-down season, but is coming off a shaky July where he posted a 5.92 ERA across five starts. Garrett has shown legit swing-and-miss stuff with exceptional command this year. However, he’s also allowing a ton of hard contact with an average exit velocity and hard-hit rate that are both in the bottom 10% of the league. That’s worrisome against a dangerous lineup like the Phillies, who have a top-tier offense vs lefties since the All-Star break (.359 wOBA, 124 wRC+, .280 BA). Back Philly in the first five innings and the full-game money line with the Marlins now just 4-12 since the break. Let’s also roll with Wheeler to get the win at plus-money. 

Pick: Philadelphia Phillies ML (-122 on FanDuel)

Pick: Philadelphia Phillies 1st 5 Innings ML (-130 on FanDuel)

Pick: Zack Wheeler to record a win (+115 on DraftKings)

Baltimore Orioles vs Toronto Blue Jays – 7:07 pm ET

In case there was any doubt, the Baltimore Orioles are not going away in the AL East divisional race. The O’s are now 12-6 since the All-Star break with back-to-back wins on the road in Toronto to start this series. They’ll look to make it three in a row as underdogs on the money line tonight. Grayson Rodriguez might not seem like a pitcher we’d back, but his recent form says otherwise. The Orioles rookie struggled in his first two months of this season, but a demotion down to the minors definitely helped. In his three starts back in the big-league rotation, the right-hander is sporting a 3.18 ERA and just tossed 6.1 scoreless innings against the Yankees last time out. Rodriguez appears to be trending up and he’s pitching a lot better than his season-long numbers indicate. He’ll face a Blue Jays offense that’s below-average vs righties over the past two weeks (.305 wOBA, .229 BA). 

Meanwhile, look for the Orioles lineup to jump on Blue Jays starter Yusei Kikuchi. We just saw Baltimore explode for 13 runs last night with a left-hander on the mound in Hyun-jin Ryu. We could easily see another outburst against the lefty Kikuchi because of the Orioles’ strong numbers in the split. The O’s have a top 10 offense vs southpaws this year and over the past two weeks, they boast a .346 wOBA, .228 ISO, and 121 wRC+ vs left-handed pitching. This lineup is much better against lefties than righties and has been all season. Look for it to continue tonight. Kikuchi’s 4.78 FIP is a full run higher than his 3.79 ERA right now and his high 84.8% strand rate is worrisome against touch matchups like this one. 

Pick: Baltimore Orioles 1st 5 Innings +0.5 Runline (-140 on DraftKings)

Pick: Baltimore Orioles ML (+105 on BetMGM)