Saturday, April 15 MLB Best Bets

A solid week of baseball betting gains went by the wayside at BetRivers Sportsbook over the weekend starting with last Saturday’s MLB Best Bets. The lone ticket cash proved to the over of Jeffrey Springs K prop after the left-hander came out for the 7^th with the Rays leading 9-0 to tally a pair of Ks to just get over the 7.5 K hump. Both total positions went up in flames both for the F5 and FG with the Rangers and Cubs playing to an over throughout and the Padres and Braves combining for a low scorer with only 13 combined hits between the two teams. I still can’t get over Michael Wacha striking out 10 Atlanta batters in that one! Here’s to regrouping and getting back in the black with another Saturday installment of MLB Best Bets – SLAM YOUR MAN!!

YTD: 12-11 ($272)

LW: 9-9 ($211)

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San Francisco Giants vs. Detroit Tigers

I’ve been a fan of “Tony Disco” for years and was distraught over him succumbing to injury early last year which cost him a bulk of the season. But the right-hander has looked pretty darn solid through two starts limiting the White Sox and Royals to just six hits and 1 ER while racking up a stellar 11:0 K/BB ratio. He’s held opposing batters to a .143 BAA and now gets to run up against a Tigers lineup bringing up the rear in just about every pertinent offensive stat category. This start looks to have quality written all over it which should have DeSclafani in line to log the win provided his offense gives him some run support unlike in his last turn against Kansas City.

The Tigers are expected to send Michael Lorenzen to the starting bump to make his 2023 debut. Detroit has been wretched in the pitching department with it ranked No. 27 in the quality start department and owners of the league’s No. 29 ranked bullpen. San Fran has raked righties to the tune of a .867 OPS (No. 3) and .507 slugging percentage (No. 3) which has seen an average of 5.4 runs hit the board in those nine contests. The stars look to be aligned for a runaway victory for the visitors so we’ll take a double pronged approach here and hit the Giants F5 & FG!

BET THE GIANTS F5 & FG

Cleveland Guardians vs. Washington Nationals

After getting blitzed for seven hits (1 HR) and 6 ER in a single inning against the A’s in his season debut, Zach Plesac righted the ship in a major way his next time out against Seattle by tossing seven innings of five hit (1 HR) and 1 ER ball to go along with a 6:1 K/BB ratio. The dramatic difference in results had everything to do with the right-hander completely changing his approach. Instead of relying on blowing his fastball past the opposition, he threw his slide piece over 50 percent of the time and the end result earned him his first dub of the baseball betting season.

His reward for the scheme change is a matchup with a Washington Nationals squad that averages 3.7 runs per game (No. 26) and hit the fewest amount of home runs (5) in the Bigs. His offense should give him some cushion to work with as well with Jose Ramirez and Co. staring back at Chad Kuhl who was ripped by the Rays and Rockies in his first two starts for 10 hits (3 HR) and 9 ER while issuing five free passes through 10.0 combined innings. While the Nats have treated us nicely in a few dog spots this season, this is not one of those spots. With Cleveland on the road and guaranteed hacks in the ninth, we’ll turn this into a 1-run wager by betting the Guardians on both the moneyline and run-line. Doing so almost always pays more than blindly hitting the 1-run line.

BET THE GUARDIANS

Chicago Cubs vs. Los Angeles Dodgers

Make sure you got the Pepto Bismol on standby ‘cuz were betting the Cubs in Tinseltown on Saturday night! That’s right! I don’t care that Chicago has dropped seven straight in Chavez Ravine – we’re going for the glory! Regardless of the 7-6 overall record, I went into the 2023 MLB betting season knowing full well that there would be opportunities to fade a Dodgers squad I don’t believe to be quite up to snuff to recent versions. We’re not running up against Julio Urias or Dustin May in this spot either. We get Michael Grove and his 14.73 ERA instead and that makes me very happy.

Even so, MLB bettors can expect LA to be laying an inflated price at the open simply because it’s the Dodgers. At home. On a Saturday night. The heck with that noise! This Grove kid is a scrub that won’t be on the big club roster much longer. Maybe he gets sent down immediately following this start! I get that Jameson Taillon has been nothing special, but the kids got the juice and will start living up to the contract Chicago signed him to in short order. I can’t think of a better opportunity for the righty to get back in the good graces of Cubs fans!

BET THE CUBS

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