Monday’s Major League Baseball slate is smaller than usual with just nine games on tap, but there are some mouth-watering matchups as four of the nine games are between teams that are over .500. We preview one of those games that is a possible NLCS preview between the Philadelphia Phillies and Los Angeles Dodgers, and do a complete 180 with a prediction on one of the least competitive games on the slate between the Chicago White Sox and Oakland Athletics.
Read on for our top MLB picks for Monday, August 5.
Monday's Best MLB Picks
(MLB odds courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook)
Chicago White Sox (+144) at Oakland Athletics (-172) | O/U 8 (+100/-122)
The White Sox enter this series opener amid a franchise-worst 20-game losing streak, something that has been done by only six other teams in MLB history, and none since the 1988 Baltimore Orioles. While these White Sox are historically bad, there is a reason why only seven teams in history have lost 20 consecutive games and no one in the two-league modern era has lost more than 23 straight. In addition, while losing 20 straight games is inexcusable, Chicago has played six teams over .500 in their last seven series (the only team that did not have a winning record in that span is the defending World Series champion Texas Rangers), and it is worth a flier to back the underdogs against an A’s team that has a winning record against just two AL teams this season (the Tigers and Angels).
Jonathan Cannon toes the rubber for Chicago, and the righty has made a respectable five quality starts out of 11. Cannon ranks in the top-third of all qualified pitchers in chase rate and the top quarter of the league in walk rate, and opponents have scored four or fewer runs in five of his last six starts. We are banking on his offense putting together enough runs against JP Sears, who ranks in the 25th percentile in xERA and the 13th percentile in barrels.
The most fun part of this wager is that if it hits, we look like geniuses. Let’s roll the dice and back the White Sox to end their historic losing streak.
MLB Pick: White Sox ML (+144)
Philadelphia Phillies (+116) at Los Angeles Dodgers (-136) | O/U 8 (-105/-115)
Phillies righty Aaron Nola is on pace for his best winning percentage since he finished third in the Cy Young voting in 2018, but he has relied on the defense behind him much more for his success. Nola's 8.6 K/9 is on pace to be his worst since his rookie year (2015) and the trade-off is that he is inducing ground balls at the highest rate since 2020 (44.6% ground ball rate). He did strike out nine Dodgers in a home win on July 11, but he should suffer a much different fate in this road start, as he is barely over .500 in his career on the road (46-45) with an ERA that is 0.93 runs higher (4.19 compared to 3.22) than in his home starts.
On the other side, Tyler Glasnow is trending up as he had walked two or more batters in three consecutive starts entering his last outing, but seemed to get his control in order, as he walked just one batter in his first seven-inning start since June 22. He has walked one or fewer batters in three of his last four starts against teams currently over .500. And while Philadelphia has the fifth-highest walk rate in the majors (8.9%), that ranking drops to 17th since the start of July (7.8%).
Philadelphia just snapped a six-game losing streak in its series finale against the Seattle Mariners on Sunday, but it has lost six consecutive series, and more travel on the West Coast is not likely a recipe for turning things around. Since July 12, the Phillies are 5-13, and the only team worse than them in that span are the White Sox. Look for the Dodgers to add to Philadelphia’s misery in this series opener, and to atone for their three-game road sweep at Citizens Bank Park in the first half of the season.
MLB Pick: Dodgers ML (-136)
Mike Spector is a featured writer at BettingPros. For more from Mike, check out his archive and follow him @MikeSpector01.