MLB Picks Today: Baseball Best Bets, Predictions, Odds on DraftKings Sportsbook for August 17

A broken clock is right twice a day. A blind squirrel eventually finds a nut. Was I a broken squirrel last Friday? Yes. Yes I was. We went 3-0 on article plays and won ourselves a very nice 3.5 units for the trouble. It was, without question, the greatest day of my life.

Let’s see if we can ride the momentum into tonight’s small MLB slate.

There’s not really much left to say about Adam Wainwright, is there? The veteran has been so bad in recent starts that John Mozeliak, the Cardinals’ president of baseball operations, has already come out and stated that Wainwright’s future will be reevaluated after tonight’s start. May I remind you that this is a team that traded away most of its rotation at the deadline. They desperately need innings, yet even they are aware they can’t keep letting the 41-year-old take the mound.

Wainwright owns a 14.87 ERA across his last seven appearances. That’s 38 earned runs in just 23.0 innings of work. In this span, the RHP has surrendered almost as many opponent barrels (13) as he’s thrown strikeouts (15). It’s a super bleak way to see a perennial All-Star’s career end — particularly with Wainwright only two wins away from 200. Meanwhile, former St. Louis employee Jose Quintana has looked quite nice for the Mets since coming off a lengthy IL stint. In five starts, Quintana has managed to maintain a 3.03 ERA and a 2.93 FIP. If New York’s bullpen can simply hold the lead it’ll surely inherit, I can’t see how this bet goes sideways.

Another bet about a 40-something pitcher whose best years are well behind him. I’ve really decided to not respect my elders tonight. I don’t think anyone in San Diego’s front office was expecting Rich Hill to save the season when he was acquired at the trade deadline, yet the veteran LHP has struggled to even surpass the low bar that was set since debuting with the Padres. In two outings — each of which has lasted fewer than four innings — Hill has allowed a combined nine earned runs. This rough patch has ballooned Hill’s ERA back up over 5.00 for 2023 as a whole, with his expected ERA sitting far higher at 5.53.

On the other side of the pitching matchup, we find the NL’s starter for the All-Star Game: Zac Gallen. While it’s impossible to tell the story of Gallen’s campaign without acknowledging a few bumps in the road, the 28-year-old has often been dominant, registering a 3.24 ERA and a 3.07 FIP. He’s also been especially good when squaring off with the Padres, having racked up 13.0 scoreless innings the last two times he’s seen them. That includes six scoreless innings with eight strikeouts this past Saturday. With probables so far apart on the pitching spectrum, I’m having a difficult time not backing the Diamondbacks as slight road underdogs.

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I am a promoter at DraftKings and am also an avid fan and user (my username is theglt13) and I may sometimes play on my personal account in the games that I offer advice on. Although I have expressed my personal view on the games and strategies above, they do not necessarily reflect the view(s) of DraftKings and I may also deploy different players and strategies than what I recommend above. I am not an employee of DraftKings and do not have access to any non-public information.