MLB Betting: Sunday's Best Bets

Michael Rathburn breaks down Sunday's slate and targets his favorite bets on the board, including a look at a first-five-innings wager in Baltimore with the Orioles hosting the Blue Jays.
MLB Betting: Sunday's Best Bets

Previous day 0-4 -4.05

Overall 35-18 +10.34

Last Sunday was the worst day of the year for me as I went 0-4. After several 4-0 and 3-1, it was bound to happen, but it was a crash and burn. With a limited strikeout prop board today, I dug into some additional props to find value and hopefully get back on the winning track.

Pittsburgh Pirates vs. Cleveland Indians 1:05 pm EDT

JT Brubaker has allowed three earned runs or less and struck out at least 5 batters in eight of out 12 starts and there is a strong chance Jose Ramirez will not play Sunday.  Add in the fact that the Indians lose the designated hitter at Pittsburgh. The good thing about betting player prop is we do not have to worry about the win/loss result as the Pirates are just 25-44.  There has been a huge line move on this game with the total going from nine runs down to eight.

BET – Brubaker over 4.5 strikeouts (-139) for 1 RW buck

BET – Brubaker under 2.5 earned runs (-128) for 1 RW buck

Toronto Blue Jays at Baltimore Orioles 1:05 pm EDT

Hyun Jin Ryu vs. Matt Harvey

The game total has seen a big line move from 9.5 to 10.5 and rightfully so. I think both starting pitchers are in trouble here today. Matt Harvey has an ERA of 7.76 and his strikeout prop is just 3.5 with significant juice on the under (-149).  Ryu faces a heavy right-handed lineup in a hitters' park and has struggled in his last three starts with a 6.11 ERA, 3.6 K/9, and 4.1 BB/9.  The Orioles tagged left-handed pitcher Robbie Ray for runs Friday night and look for more of the same today.

BET – Blue Jays/Orioles over 5.5 runs 1st 5 innings (-115) for 1 RW buck

Texas Rangers vs. Minnesota Twins 2:35 pm EDT

Dane Dunning vs. Kenta Maeda

Dunning has incredible home splits with a 1.97 ERA, 11.0 K/9, and 2.0 BB/9 in 32 innings this year. The Twins have been the most disappointing team in baseball and Maeda has a 5.01 ERA and 1.48 WHIP. His numbers have been worse on the road as well. He did throw better his last time out after spending three weeks on the injured list.

BET – Dunning over 4.5 strikeouts (+100) for 1.5 RW bucks

San Diego Padres vs. Cincinnati Reds 4:10 pm EDT

Dinelson Lamet vs. Luis Castillo

I am not sure why the number is 6.5, but there is significant juice on that number as well. Even with that said, I just can not see how Lamet gets to seven strikeouts when he has been averaging three to four innings per start against a solid Reds lineup. He has averaged five strikeouts in his last three starts and 4.1 innings.

BET – Lamet under 6.5 strikeouts (-167) for 1.5 RW bucks

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Known as “Rath” in the Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS) community, he has helped run operations for two prominent daily fantasy sports startups. Michael has taken his insider knowledge and expertise in daily fantasy sports to the content side. Rath won the 2016 FSWA "Baseball Article of the Year, Online" award and was a finalist for the FSWA Best Baseball Series in 2011.
RotoWire Logo

Continue the Conversation

Join the RotoWire Discord group to hear from our experts and other MLB fans.

Top News

Tools

MLB Draft Kit Logo

MLB Draft Kit

Fantasy Tools

Don’t miss a beat. Check out our 2025 MLB Fantasy Baseball rankings.