Top 3 MLB Picks & Predictions: Friday (5/22)
The weather is getting warmer, baseball is in literal full swing, and life is good. I'll continue to be here once a week to provide you with the best bets across the day.
Baseball is the best sport to get specific with your bets, and there are plenty of angles to attack any given game. Almost every day offers a loaded slate of opportunities. It's the best time of year.
We've gotten to even on the year, and I plan on continuing the trend upwards after a rocky start to the year. Here are the best MLB picks & predictions for Friday, May 22.
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Friday's Best MLB Picks & Predictions
Last Time: 2-1 | This Season: 12-12
Texas Rangers at Los Angeles Angels
Starting in Los Angeles, we're going to go with a player prop. Grayson Rodriguez gets the start for the Angels. He's coming off a historically bad outing, allowing seven runs in 3 2/3 IP to open up his season after missing all of 2025. I'd be shocked if he makes it through five full innings.
The Angels don't have the best bullpen, but even if Rodriguez is pitching well, I can't imagine Manager Kurt Suzuki would allow Gray Rod to get to a high pitch count against a Rangers team that is capable of posting runs despite underperforming a bit so far. I can't believe how high these out props sit, and even at -130, it's a value with it being -120 at 16.5 runs on most other books.
Pick: Grayson Rodriguez Under 17.5 Outs (-130 BetMGM)
Cleveland Guardians vs. Philadelphia Phillies
In Philadelphia tonight, the Phillies host the red-hot Guardians. After a tough run, Philly has gone 7-3 in their last 10 games, getting back to .500, while Cleveland has gone 9-1 in their last 10 games. I think Cleveland is due for regression, and we'll see it here.
First of all, the Guardians are going up against Cristopher Sanchez, who owns a 1.00 ERA at home this year over 45 innings. He's been awesome over the last month. In his last five starts, Sanchez has allowed eight total runs in 36 IP with 41 strikeouts.
Countering for Cleveland, Gavin Williams has negative splits on the road with his ERA at nearly 5.00. He has allowed a 5.12 ERA over his last five starts. The Philly offense has woken up, especially at home, and I expect we’ll see that tonight.
Pick: Phillies -1.5 runs (+138 Kalshi)
Seattle Mariners vs. Kansas City Royals
Finally, I've got the traveling Mariners to take down the mighty Kansas City Royals. Obviously, I'm being a bit sarcastic, as the Royals have gone 1-9 over their last 10 games, being outscored by 19 runs in that time frame while batting .224 as a team.
Logan Gilbert has also been excellent away from home, allowing a 1.59 ERA in his three starts outside Seattle. While that's a small sample size, he's limited opponents to a .203 batting average on the road, and I'm not exactly scared of the Royals’ offense.
I'm also not exactly afraid of Noah Cameron, who has consistently held a 5.00-plus ERA for whichever split you look at. Seattle has been worse against southpaws, but I still trust this squad to improve.
Pick: Mariners Moneyline (-118 BetMGM)