After a small night slate on Wednesday, we’re back with a similar six-game offering on Thursday, and this time they’re all going to be at least nine-innings. There’s value across the board with so many games near a pick ‘em, but I see some teams that should enter as heavier favorites. With that in mind, here are my best MLB bets to consider on DraftKings Sportsbook.
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New York Mets at Chicago Cubs
Over 9.5 (-107)
After a slugfest on Wednesday, I think both of these teams have more runs in the tank on Thursday. The Cubs have struggled to hit this season, but as we saw yesterday, they are perfectly fine against left-handed pitching — they rank 11th with a 110 wRC+. They’ll face another middling southpaw in Joey Lucchesi and shouldn’t have much of an issue knocking in three to five runs. The Mets’ bats started to wake up ever so slightly on Wednesday, and they should be getting out of bed and making some coffee against Trevor Williams on the road. Williams is a soft-tosser and he ranks in the bottom 30% of the league in expected batting average and the bottom 33% of the league in strikeout rate. The Mets have been plagued by some bad swings and misses lately, and against a pitch-to-contact soft-tosser they, too, should hit. I like another slugfest here at a decent number.
Cleveland Indians at New York Yankees
Yankees ML (-107)
I am the first person who will tell you to quit trying to figure out when a streak will end, and just ride the wave. Generally speaking, that’s the best way to make money. With that said, the matchup — and the price — are too good here to pass up.
The Yankees have ranked 10th in hard-hit rate, but 25th in contact rate. Their issue hasn’t been hitting the ball hard, it’s just been hitting the ball. So, against Aaron Civale, who pitches to contact, I think this offense should have plenty of success, seeing as the bat should be on the ball. On the other side of the coin, the Indians are down in 26th place against right-handed pitching with a poor 80 wRC+ this year. Domingo German hasn’t been great during his time in the bigs, but he’s been fine, and fine is all that should be required to stop this offense.
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Los Angeles Angels at Houston Astros
Astros ML (-125)
Houston was resting comfortably around this price for a week without some of their boppers in the lineup, but now with more key players returning, I’m not sure I’d make them this cheap.
The offense should hit Alex Cobb, who’s really been an offense’s dream over the last four years, and they’ll be backed by the exciting young right arm of Cristian Javier. The youngster may very well be the real deal with a career expected batting average of .190 and a tantalizing slider that’s generated a whiff rate over 46%. The Angels have struggled to capitalize on some favorable pitching matchups lately, so I have no reason to believe they’ll suddenly produce the level required to get through Javier.
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I am a promoter at DraftKings and am also an avid fan and user (my username is jetsfan196) and I may sometimes play on my personal account in the games that I offer advice on. Although I have expressed my personal view on the games and strategies above, they do not necessarily reflect the view(s) of DraftKings and I may also deploy different players and strategies than what I recommend above. I am not an employee of DraftKings and do not have access to any non-public information.