Best MLB Bets Today | MLB Picks, June 16

The Friday MLB slate is epic this week, and there are tons of areas on the card to make money. The weekend is headlined by the Yankees and Red Sox from Fenway Park. Let’s get into some of the most profitable lines to wager on Friday. 

Tampa Bay Rays @ San Diego Padres

• Time: 10:15 PM ET
• Starting Pitchers: Shane McClanahan (TB) vs Yu Darvish (SD)
• Moneyline: Rays (-116) | Padres (-102)
• Run Line: Rays -1.5 (+150) | Padres +1.5 (-182)
• Total: Over 8.5 (-115) | Under 8.5 (-105)

Odds courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook

My Pick: Cubs ML (+100)

The Rays managed to salvage a series split against the Athletics. They’re the first team in baseball to have 50 wins, and most of these have been at home. However, Tampa Bay is still 19-15 on the road, and they’ll face a Padres team that has been getting better, but they haven’t faced a good opponent lately. 

They beat up on Cleveland and Colorado, so I’ll trust the Rays with their ace Shane McClanahan on the mound. McClanahan is 10-1 with a 2.18 ERA and a 1.11 WHIP. Over 82 innings, he has only allowed 62 hits with 92 strikeouts.

Yu Darvish hasn’t been elite this season at 5-4 with a 4.3 ERA, but he does have a 1.16 WHIP. Darvish has struggled to get out of jams and had some really bad starts in his past five games. The Rays have just consistently been able to find ways to win. They’ve scored over 100 more runs than San Diego. It’s hard not to trust them in this spot. 

Phillies @ Oakland Athletics

• Time: 9:40 PM ET
• Starting Pitchers: Taijuan Walker (PHI) vs JP Sears (OAK)
• Moneyline: Phillies (+150) | Athletics (+132)
• Run Line: Phillies -1.5 (+104) | Athletics +1.5 (-125)
• Total: Over 8.5 (-115) | Under 8.5 (-105)

Odds courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook

My Pick: Phillies -1.5 (+104)

The Athletics put up a great fight against the Rays in their last series. They’re playing a lot better than we’ve seen this season. In the past seven days, their OBP is 10 points higher than we’ve seen this season, and they were riding a 7-game-winning streak. However, when Brent Rooker is your best hitter, it’s hard to trust this club. 

The Phillies are following the same trend as last season. They started slow and now they’re starting to figure out how to play baseball. Kyle Schwarber has 18 bombs on the year and Nick Castellanos is locked in at the dish. Bryce Harper has quietly been making noise with a .391 OBP. We just haven’t seen the power yet. 

Philadelphia doesn’t have a pitching advantage. Taijuan Walker and JP Sears have nearly identical numbers. They’ve both thrown 69.1 innings and have an ERA in the fours with average strikeout ability. We like Sears a little better but it’s not keeping me from betting on the Phillies…unless we see another reverse protest in Oakland!

Cleveland Guardians @ Arizona Diamondbacks 

• Time: 9:40 PM ET
• Starting Pitchers: Triston McKenzie (CLE) vs  Zac Gallen (ARI)
• Moneyline: Guardians (+120) | Diamondbacks (-142)
• Run Line: Guardians +1.5 (-178) | Diamondbacks -1.5 (+146)
• Total: Over 7.5 (-118) | Under 7.5 (-104)

Odds courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook

My Pick: Diamondbacks ML (-142)

If you like really good pitching, this is the game you want to watch: Triston McKenzie vs Zac Gallen. McKenize only has ten innings on the year, but he has looked really good with 15 strikeouts over this stretch. The walks have been notable with four in ten innings, but this will improve. Gallen is 7-1 with an ERA of just over three and a 1.15 WHIP. He has only allowed four homers in 84.1 innings. 

The Guardians don’t hit a lot of homers in their lineup, Gallen basically eliminated this portion of their game. The biggest reason to take the Diamondbacks is their price at -140 and the offensive advantage. Arizona has scored 100 more runs and hit 35 more homers than Cleveland. The Guardians haven’t lost because of their defense. It has been due to their offense. They’re 29th in baseball in runs scored where Arizona is fifth. Gallen will shut the door and the Diamondbacks will chip away on McKenzie. 

New York Yankees @ Boston Red Sox

• Time: 7:10 PM ET
• Starting Pitchers: Domingo German (NYY) vs Tanner Houck (BOS)
• Moneyline: Yankees (+102) | Red Sox (-120)
• Run Line: Yankees -1.5 (+158) | Red Sox +1.5 (-192)
• Total: Over 9.5 (-105) | Under 9.5 (-115)

Odds courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook

My Pick: Red Sox ML

The Red Sox elevate their play against quality opponents. The Yankees are a quality opponent, and they haven’t been playing well, so it’s a perfect combination. The only thing that would make this matchup better is if Gerrit Cole was on the mound for Boston. 

Tanner Houck will pitch for the Red Sox, and he hasn’t been good. He’s 3-6 with a 5.23 ERA with a 1.26 WHIP. The game really starts to go south for him when it’s his third time through the order. He’s going to go five innings and give up three runs typically. He went six innings and allowed two runs last Saturday against New York. 

The positive for Houck is that the Red Sox can hit Domingo German. They couldn’t get the big hit off of him last weekend, but they had productive at-bats. We expect them to build on those Friday. German has a 3.49 ERA and a .99 WHIP, but he isn’t an elite strikeout pitcher. The majority of Boston’s power has come off right-handed pitching. Last week in this matchup, we saw a low-scoring game, but we feel the reverse is in order on Friday.