We’re hurtling into the middle of the month on this third Saturday in May of the 2025 Major League Baseball season. It’s hard to believe that a quarter pole of the ‘new’ MLB season is already in the rear-view mirror.
We had our second consecutive 3-for-5 Saturday last week in this space. That’s a tremendous day at the plate, but on PrizePicks, it doesn’t net us much. We got off to a quick start, but were stymied in the late slate. Let’s do better.
As a bonus, toss in Denver’s Nikola Jokic for More Than 0.5 Points. This is the equivalent of a free play in bingo.
We’ll take a look at the evening slate, giving you a handful of MLB PrizePicks player predictions for Saturday, May 17th.
Our PrizePicks Cheat Sheet helps bettors by comparing lines from PrizePicks vs. our daily MLB projections >>
We’re hurtling into the middle of the month on this third Saturday in May of the 2025 Major League Baseball season. It’s hard to believe that a quarter pole of the ‘new’ MLB season is already in the rear-view mirror.
We had our second consecutive 3-for-5 Saturday last week in this space. That’s a tremendous day at the plate, but on PrizePicks, it doesn’t net us much. We got off to a quick start, but were stymied in the late slate. Let’s do better.
As a bonus, toss in Denver’s Nikola Jokic for More Than 0.5 Points. This is the equivalent of a free play in bingo.
We’ll take a look at the evening slate, giving you a handful of MLB PrizePicks player predictions for Saturday, May 17th.
Our PrizePicks Cheat Sheet helps bettors by comparing lines from PrizePicks vs. our daily MLB projections >>
Saturday’s Best MLB PrizePicks Predictions
Let’s get a little crazy here. This is a ‘demon’ play. According to PrizePicks, demons are a little wild. They’re harder to win, but the lineup qualifies for higher payouts, so let’s roll with that.
Tyler Soderstrom has cooled a little in the power department, but he still has 10 long balls across 172 at-bats. He’ll get a chance to face the very giving Landen Roupp of the San Francisco Giants. Roupp has a 4.95 ERA and 1.50 WHIP, surrendering at least one homer in three straight starts, and six homers across his past six outings.
I am not a big fan of playing the ‘Less Than’ on players, but Miles Mastrobuoni is a guy playing somewhat regularly who is doing nothing at the plate. Since May 6th, he has collected just one single across 15 at-bats in parts of eight games. Mastrobuoni has struck out four times in his past 10 at-bats. Go low, and feel confident in doing so.
Michael Toglia leads the Majors with 62 strikeouts across just 152 at-bats, and he is hitting just .211 with a .278 on-base percentage (OBP). He has cracked six home runs with 18 RBI, and his slugging percentage is somewhat presentable at .375.
However, the strikeouts are a concern, except at PrizePicks. We applaud his free-swinging ways and want to see him strike out at least two times against Zac Gallen. For what it’s worth, Toglia has struck out in each of his two career at-bats against Gallen.
Zac Gallen has slowly been piecing things together, looking like a pitcher more deserving of a nine-figure contract than he was just a few weeks ago. In May, Gallen is 2-1 with a 2.89 ERA and 19 strikeouts across 18.2 innings in three starts. He baffled the New York Mets twice, turning in a pair of quality starts, while his only loss was against the high-octane Los Angeles Dodgers.
Gallen now gets a chance to square off against MLB punching bag Colorado. The Rockies have managed 432 strikeouts this season to lead the Majors, which equates to 9.81 strikeouts per game, third in the league. Gallen struck out eight Mets on May 1st on the road, and he reached more than seven strikeouts just one other time, whiffing 13 in a win over the New York Yankees on April 2nd. Still, he should be able to hit the mark against the free-swinging Rockies.
Pre-injury Clayton Kershaw would be a slam-dunk play, but there are concerns about Kershaw. He makes his season debut after recovering from offseason meniscus surgery and a foot ailment. The Angels have managed 426 strikeouts at the plate through just 43 games, tied for second in the Majors. At a rate of 9.91 strikeouts per game, the Angels whiff more than any team in the Majors, even more so than the lowly Rockies. That’s good news for the veteran southpaw.
The concern with taking Kershaw is that he could be on a strict pitch count in his season debut. However, it also shouldn’t take much to get to four strikeouts against the free-swinging Halos.
Make sure to check out our other best bets for Saturday:
Joe Williams is a featured writer at BettingPros. For more from Joe, check out his archive and follow him @winwithjoe.
