The 2026 season is in full swing, and Monday's MLB slate is packed with 13 excellent games.
The day begins with Cubs vs Rays at 4:10 p.m. ET and ends with Phillies vs Giants at 9:45 p.m. ET.
Our staff of MLB betting experts has grabbed four of their best MLB picks today, so here are our MLB best bets for Monday, April 6.
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 |
|---|---|---|
  | 4:10 PM | |
  | 6:45 PM | |
  | 6:45 PM | |
  | 7:07 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. | ||
Cubs vs Rays Moneyline Pick
By Sean Paul
While getting to the finish line could be tough due to a terrible pen, I can't pass on the advantage in the pitching matchup and lineup here.
Jameson Taillon is a very fade-worthy arm who could be in for a tough season without more batted ball luck in his direction.
The Rays have a few edges that Chicago simply can't overcome.
Read Paul's full Cubs-Rays preview here:
Pick: Rays Moneyline (Play to -160)
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Sean Zerillo's Cardinals vs Nationals Best Bet
By Sean Zerillo
While I give the Cardinals the starting pitching advantage in this matchup, with Andre Pallante (career 3.94 xERA, 3.97 xFIP, 7% K-BB%; projected FIP range of 4.09 to 4.32) grading out better than Zack Littell (career 4.46 xERA, 4.29 xFIP, 14.2% K-BB%; projected FIP range of 4.43 to 4.88), I show a much larger gap between these two bullpens.
Pallante defies a low K-BB% with one of the heavier groundball tilts in MLB (career 63.8%).
The relief arms for both teams have struggled to date (5.26 xFIP for St. Louis and 5.39 xFIP for Washington), but the Cardinals' projected relievers for Monday average a sub-four weighted FIP; conversely, the Nationals' relievers project closer to 4.5, with only the Rockies bullpen (4.55) ranking worse on Monday's slate.
St. Louis has the better position player group, too, both offensively (projecting 4 points better in wRC+) and especially defensively; their defensive number ranks seventh among the 26 teams with a projection for Monday in my model.
Conversely, the Nationals rank last in defensive value on the slate, and the combined win probability of their negative defensive value and the Cardinals' positive contributions sums to more than a 2.5% impact on the projected win probability for this matchup — the difference between finding an actionable edge and passing on betting this game.
In a small sample this season, the Cardinals have produced 4 Defensive Runs Saved (DRS) and 3 Outs Above Average (OAA); conversely, the Nationals are sitting on -2 DRS and -4 OAA. Washington ranked 27th (-44 DRS) and 29th (-33 OAA) by advanced defensive metrics last season, while the Cardinals led MLB in OAA (36) and finished 19th with 5 DRS.
Pick: Cardinals Moneyline (-115 or better)
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Brewers vs Red Sox Ks Pick
By Derek Carty
There may be some value on Brandon Woodruff's strikeouts prop.
THE BAT X is projecting him to record 5.24 strikeouts, and oddsmakers are implying 6.16.
The model believes there is a 73% chance he records fewer than 7 strikeouts. If you can get the under at -135 or better, there is great value here.
This play is good down to at least -175.
Pick: Brandon Woodruff Under 6.5 Strikeouts (-135)
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Jon Anderson's Dodgers vs Blue Jays Best Bet
By Jon Anderson
It's Justin Wrobleski on the mound for LA as they move into a sort of six-man rotation to limit the workload on Shohei Ohtani and others. This will be the lefty's first start and second appearance of the year. That first appearance was a 60-pitch "piggyback" of Roki Sasaki.
The guy can pitch; this is no pushover spot for the Blue Jays. But the pitch count is likely to come in under 75, and there's an angle we take there. It seems like the books might be giving his length and/or efficiency a bit too much credit. Last year, it took Wrobleski 5.5 pitches on average to record an out. We can do some very simple math here.
Let's take a 75-pitch projection (which I think is high, mind you), and divide it by that 5.5. That would project 13.6 outs for Wrobleski. And that's in a neutral matchup.
My projection on Wrobleski's outs tonight is 13.0. That would turn into a "fair price" of -190 for a bet of under 14.5 outs. DraftKings is offering that at -101.
Pick: Justin Wrobleski Under 14.5 Outs (-101)
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