We have a 8-game slate today, starting with Mariners vs Orioles at 6:35 PM ET, and closing with Brewers vs Athletics at 10:05 PM ET.
Our experts have analyzed the matchups and found great options for Monday, June 8.
Below are 5 expert MLB best bets today.
MLB Best Bets Today
The team logos in the table below represent each of the matchups that our MLB betting staff is targeting from today's slate of games. Click on the team logos for any of the matchups below to navigate to a specific bet discussed in this article.
| Game | Time (ET) | Pick |
|---|---|---|
  | 6:35 PM | |
  | 6:40 PM | |
  | 6:40 PM | |
  | 7:07 PM | |
  | 9:45 PM | |
Specific betting recommendations come from the sportsbook offering preferred odds as of writing. Always shop for the best price using our MLB Odds page, which automatically surfaces the best lines for every game. | ||
Sean Zerillo's Mariners vs Orioles Over/Under Pick
By Sean Zerillo
Editor’s Note: This written pick is a transcription from today's episode of the Payoff Pitch Podcast.
Chris Bassitt is a bit questionable for this start as he’s coming off an injury, so we’re hopefully getting a banged-up version of him trying to gut through it at less than 100%.
What I really want to highlight for the Over, though, is Emerson Hancock. He was a guy I was betting a lot on early in the season — I was really high on him and had upgraded him in my rankings. But since then, his stuff has fallen off pretty dramatically.
In April, he was averaging 95 mph. In his last start, he was down to 92.1 mph — almost a full two-tick drop. His K-BB rate was in the mid-20s earlier in the year and has now fallen to basically league average over his last five starts. His expected FIP has climbed to around 4.00.
So the breakout version of Hancock we saw early in the season has largely moved back toward just a league-average arm.
As a reminder, you can see all of Zerillo's MLB game projections with an Action PRO Subscription. Find his projected lines every day on the PRO Projections tab.
Pick: Over 9 (-110 or Better)
| | | | |
Mike Ianniello's Yankees vs Guardians Best Bet
Will Warren gets loft in the shuffle of the rest of the Yankees' rotation, but he has quietly been terrific this season. He has improved his command and success against left-handed hitters and has allowed just two runs or fewer in 10 of his 12 starts this season.
Gavin Williams ERA is inflated by a few bad starts here and there, but when his stuff is clicking, he is virtually unhittable. Williams leads the American League in strikeouts and punched out six Yankees in his start against them last week. He only allowed four hits; the problem was that two of them were homers.
Both of these starting pitchers have worked to improve their command this season and cut down on walks. They both have elite strikeout upside. While both of these offenses rank in the top 10 in scoring, they are also both relatively top-heavy. If they can navigate the top of these lineups, the bottom half is relatively unintimidating. Over the last two weeks, Cleveland has been last in the American League in scoring, and New York has an MVP-sized hole in its lineup.
With two young pitchers I am very high on, I'll back the favorable pitching matchup against two slumping offenses on Monday.
Pick: Under 8 (-115)
| | | | |
Grant Neiffer's Red Sox vs Rays HR Pick
This isn't a bad spot, and Wilyer Abreu is priced far too high.
This ballpark is basically a lateral move for lefty power, and the matchup overall is a plus.
Ian Seymour will open, and he's a downgrade for lefty power, but Mason Englert will come in for long relief, and he grades out as a big plus matchup for lefty power.
Abreu is a good power bat, and I have the true odds here around +470, making this a great bet.
Pick: Wilyer Abreu Over 0.5 Home Runs (+550)
| | | | |
Sean Paul's Phillies vs Blue Jays Pitching Prop
By Sean Paul
We just witnessed one of the best six-start stretches in MLB history, via Cristopher Sanchez from the Phillies. He tossed 50 2/3 scoreless innings over seven starts (the last few innings against the Giants on 4/30), every start in May, and 6 2/3 against the Padres before they tagged him for a lone run.
The best part? He provided unreal length in these games, throwing 7+ innings in his last six starts and 8+ in three of the six.
It's been a dominant season for Sanchez, who owns a 1.46 ERA with a 2.83 xERA and 1.80 FIP. He's a monster and the frontrunner for NL CY Young, no doubt.
I'm targeting the over on his outs-recorded prop against the Blue Jays for a few reasons.
For one, Sanchez goes deep in games, as I said. He doesn't get tired because he doesn't rely on 98+ mph velocity. He throws hard, averaging 95 mph on his sinker, but his 58.3% groundball rate allows him to go deep in contests.
From the Blue Jays portion of this, they have the type of lineup that Sanchez could carve up. Only two teams in the league have a strikeout rate below 20% this year: The Rays at 18% and the Jays at 19%. Toronto is also 29th with a 7.6% walk rate.
Sanchez has cut his BB/9 to a minuscule 1.74, which allows him to give Philadelphia 7+ innings in virtually every start.
Although Sanchez records close to 60% of his outs on the ground, he also strikes out 10.74 batters per nine. When he needs to hunt for strikeouts, his changeup is an absolute weapon as teams prep for his sinker.
From an approach standpoint, I think the Blue Jays will look to be aggressive. That should allow Sanchez to get quick outs and pitch deeper into the game.
Pick: Cristopher Sanchez Over 20.5 Outs Recorded (-110)
| | | | |
Jon Anderson's ML Bet for Nationals vs Giants
By Jon Anderson
Logan Webb looks to be back to his old form after a slow start to the year and an IL stint. He's given up just four hits in his last 11 innings, no homers, and an xwOBA allowed just north of .200. The guy has a 63% GB% this year, that's his highest mark since 2021.
The Giants offense has been awesome. They are second in the league in runs scored with 124 since May 15th. Some of the dudes contributing to that:
- Jung Hoo Lee 1.100 OPS
- Willy Adames 1.017 OPS
- Bryce Eldridge .931 OPS
- Luis Arraez .930 OPS
- Casey Schmitt .898 OPS
You know by now that Miles Mikolas can get hit around. He's followed an opener the last four outings, but he's still throwing as many innings as they can reasonably let him. The Nats know the guy is bad (6.07 ERA, 2.24 HR/9), but you have to play 162 games and get 27 outs in most of them, so sometimes you just need a body up there who can throw it over the plate.
Mikolas is impressively bad at this point in his career, though. 14 homers allowed. Two on his four-seam, seven on his sinker, two on his slider, two on his changeup, one on a sweeper. He has allowed a .352 xwOBA with a 14.7% K%. There's no better pitcher to face.
The Giants are a -163 favorite on the moneyline. That's pretty juiced up, but I expected it to be a little bit worse than that.
Pick: Giants Moneyline (-163)
| | | | |
