MLB Picks for July 31: Baseball Best Bets, Predictions, Odds on DraftKings Sportsbook

Friendly reminder that we are a day away from the MLB Trade Deadline. Keep an eye on lineups and potential scratches, as trades continue to churn out all throughout the day. Nonetheless, it’s time to look at three bets I like on DraftKings Sportsbook.

Houston Astros vs. Cleveland Guardians

Thanks to some wheelin’ and dealin’ (son of a gun, WOOOO - Ric Flair) between the Guardians and Dodgers, the Astros have the luxury of facing Noah Syndergaard in his return from the injured list. Dealing with a blister, Syndergaard hasn’t made a start in almost two months, last starting on June 7th against the Reds. As you may remember, Syndergaard hasn’t been effective at all, allowing at least five runs in his last three starts against the Reds, Nationals and Rays. On the season, he has a 7.16 ERA with a 5.67 xERA and a 5.54 FIP.

This Astros lineup is finally looking like it was intended. Due to a number of injuries, we’ve essentially seen a number of bandaids placed in this lineup to compensate. Now, they recently activated Yordan Alvarez and Jose Altuve, solidifying the top of their lineup. With them back, they’ve averaged 6.7 runs per game, but a 17 run outburst on Saturday pads those numbers. With their power bats back I think they cover again tonight.

San Diego Padres at Colorado Rockies

Another run line to consider is the Padres against the Rockies. If you didn’t see, the Angels made a trade for two of the Rockies best hitters in Randal Grichuk and C.J. Cron. Add onto the fact that Charlie Blackmon and Kris Bryant are on the injured list, this lineup has next to nothing to offer on offense. Sure, this game is at Coors Field but the pitching matchup isn’t particularly close either. Seth Lugo will be throwing for the Padres against Austin Gomber. It’s been a nightmare at home for Gomber, who has a 7.19 ERA, a .391 wOBA and a 5.77 FIP through 61.1 innings. This will be his third start against the Padres and he hasn’t performed well. In total, he’s gone 10 innings allowing 10 runs on 15 hits, including five home runs. The Padres should be putting up some numbers tonight and I would expect them to win by at least two.

Tampa Bay Rays at New York Yankees

This is an interesting bet that I’m looking to take a shot on at some good plus money. Now, the obvious advantage for Domingo German is that he’ll take the mound first with the opportunity to record the first strikeout. However, the top of the Rays lineup is particularly tough to strikeout. Looking at the projected lineup, Yandy Diaz and Wander Franco only strikeout 15% of the time against righties. Those are really good numbers. It gets a bit dicey with Brandon Lowe, who jumps all the way up to 27%. However, if Lowe can avoid the strikeout, Glasnow has some really good matchups in the bottom half of the inning. After Gleyber Torres, who should be leading off with a 12% K% against righties, he’ll see (projected) four straight players with a K% of at least 23%. Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, Anthony Rizzo and DJ LeMahieu. This is almost like a “no run first inning” bet but a “no strikeout top half” bet. New trend?

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All views expressed are my own. I am an employee of DraftKings and am ineligible to play in public DFS or DKSB contests.