Top 3 MLB Picks & Predictions: Thursday (6/25)
With today's slate, I'm backing one favorite, one very hot pitcher and an offense that has been on fire of late. Below, I explain why Cam Schlittler and the Yankees are set up nicely to easily defeat the Red Sox, why the Cubs are being incredibly undervalued against the Mets and why Bryce Miller will be able to shut down the Pirates' offense. Here are the best MLB picks for Thursday, June 25th.
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Thursday’s Best MLB Picks & Predictions
(Odds provided by DraftKings Sportsbook)
New York Yankees at Boston Red Sox
With just 301 runs, the Red Sox are the lowest-scoring team in baseball. Though they've scored at least five runs in back-to-back games, they're averaging just 3.9 runs per game, and they're about to face a red-hot Cam Schlittler.
The Red Sox are hitting just .159 against Schlittler in his career, and the Yankees’ young starter has allowed just three earned runs to them in 63 at-bats. Plus, Schlittler has given up one or fewer runs in three consecutive starts. In two starts against the Red Sox this season, he's pitched 13.2 innings, allowing just eight hits and two earned runs. The Yankees won each game by multiple runs.
Meanwhile, the Yankees will face Connelly Early for the second time this season. When they faced him in May, they recorded five hits and three runs in a 4-0 win. Early won't be able to keep the fourth-highest-scoring team in baseball in check enough to allow the Red Sox to keep this game close.
Pick: Yankees -1.5 (-104)
Chicago Cubs at New York Mets
Throughout his career, Mets starter Freddy Peralta has actually put up good numbers against the Cubs. The current Chicago lineup is hitting just .160 off of him in 219 at-bats, and he's allowed only 23 earned runs. However, Peralta has been too inconsistent this season, so I'm backing the Cubs to get the better of him tonight.
In his last start, Peralta lasted just 2.2 innings, allowing 10 hits and 10 earned runs to the Phillies. While he was solid in his outing before that, Peralta has now allowed at least six earned runs in two of his last three starts and at least four earned runs in four of his last six.
The Cubs' offense has been outstanding this series, scoring at least nine runs in all three games. They have now scored at least six runs in six consecutive games, putting up a total of 59 runs during that span.
Pick: Cubs Team Total Over 4.5 Runs (+110)
Seattle Mariners at Pittsburgh Pirates
The Pirates have the second-most hits in the league this season, but this is a terrible matchup for them. Mariners starter Bryce Miller has a WHIP of just 0.70 this season, allowing only 23 hits in 40 innings. Miller has allowed more than five hits in just one start, and he's allowed three or fewer hits in four of his seven appearances.
The Pirates posted 15 hits last night, and they had nine in the first game of this series. While this might worry some bettors, I think that it's actually given us a great price for the under.
Miller has pitched at least five innings in every start this season. Even though he's likely to turn it over to the bullpen before the seventh inning, I don't think the Pirates will have enough hits to make it past this total at that time.
Pick: Pirates Under 7.5 Hits (+114)
Phil Wood is a featured writer at BettingPros. For more from Phil, check out his archive and follow him @Phil_Wood_Jr.