MLB Expert Picks

The regular season begins in March and the playoffs go until November, so there will be plenty of opportunities all year long to bet on baseball. 

All you have to do to get your expert MLB best bets is to sign up for a free bookies+ account here at Bookies.com, and every day during the MLB season you will have expert MLB picks sent directly to your inbox. That’s how easy it is to do!

Our guide to MLB picks will take you through all the aspects of MLB betting so you can better understand the bets our MLB experts make on baseball. We will tell you all about MLB moneylines, spreads (run lines), totals, props, and much more. 

By the end of reading our guide on MLB picks, we hope you become an expert yourself when it comes to betting on baseball. We are here to help you on your journey to win money betting on MLB baseball, so read our guide and learn everything about betting on baseball.

Betting on MLB moneylines is the most straightforward way to bet on baseball. With MLB moneyline betting, you bet on the team to win the game. As long as they win by at least one run, then your bet will be marked as a winner.

The MLB season begins in late March, and each of the 30 teams in the league plays 162 games. After the conclusion of the regular season, 14 teams make the postseason and then play until the World Series winner is crowned in early November. 

In other words, there are thousands of MLB games you can bet on each year, giving you so many different opportunities to make money betting on MLB baseball.

And most of the time when you bet on baseball, you will be targeting the moneylines to make your wagers.

To make things easier to understand when it comes to MLB moneyline betting, let’s give an example of how you could bet on a hypothetical MLB game on the moneyline.

Let’s take an example of a game featuring the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox. In this hypothetical example, the Yankees are -200 betting favorites and the Red Sox are +150 betting underdogs. If you bet $200 on the Yankees as -200 betting favorites and they win by at least one run, you will win $100. If you bet $100 on the Red Sox as +150 betting underdogs and they win by at least one run, you will win $150.

When it comes to MLB moneyline betting, we recommend targeting games where the betting odds are close to -110 each on both sides. While these games are close on paper, which is why the betting odds are so tight, long-term it’s more profitable to bet on games with low juice like this, since if you get your bet wrong, it won’t hurt you as much as if you are laying bigger juice and your team ends up losing.

Another aspect of MLB betting to remember is that there are no pushes on full-game moneylines since games keep going until someone wins. There are no ties in MLB, so there will be no pushes when it comes to moneyline betting in baseball, meaning if two teams are tied at the end of nine innings, the two teams will play extra innings until a winner is decided.

One other thing to note is that MLB games are prone to rainouts since many of the stadiums in the league are outside, so games will sometimes be suspended until another day to finish the game, or games can even be canceled if they don’t go five innings, depending on the rules of the sportsbooks you are betting at. 

This is just something to keep in mind when you are betting on baseball in general.

Our MLB handicappers at Bookies.com and bookies+ will place wagers on the moneylines throughout the season, so get ready to bet on moneylines and win money all year long by tailing our expert picks. 

Just sign up for a free bookies+ account at Bookies.com and get the best MLB picks sent to your inbox every day during the MLB season. All you have to do is enter your email address to get started.

Instead of betting on MLB moneylines, you can also bet on the spread, which in baseball is known as the run line. With the run line, you will get adjusted odds compared to what the moneyline would be.

When it comes to the run line, for a moneyline betting favorite, you would bet -1.5 on the run line, or in some cases, -2.5. This means your team would have to win by multiple runs to cash your bet if you bet on the run line. 

On the flipside, the betting underdog can lose by multiple runs on the run line and you can cash your bet. For small favorites, the underdog will be listed at +1.5 on the run line, and bigger underdogs will be listed at +2.5 on the run line.

Although betting on the run line complicates things because your team has to win by more than one run if you bet on the favorite, the reasoning behind it is due to the adjustment in betting odds. 

For favorites, you won’t have to lay as much juice, and for underdogs, you may have to pay a bit more, but you will get the cushion of your team being able to lose by a run or two depending on what the run line is, and still being able to cash your bet.

Our MLB handicappers at Bookies.com and bookies+ bet on a mix of MLB wagers, including run lines if they feel like the odds hold better value than the standard moneylines.

We recommend that when you bet on MLB you take a look at all available betting odds before placing your final wagers. Oftentimes, there may be more value in betting on games on the run lines instead of betting on the moneylines.

Betting on game totals, also known as the over/under, is another popular way to bet on MLB. This means betting on how many runs are scored during the game. The oddsmakers set the over/under line, and you either bet over if you think more runs will be scored, or under if you think fewer runs will be scored.

As an example, let’s say there is a game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Chicago Cubs and the over/under is set at 7.5 runs. If there are eight runs scored in the game and you bet over, then your bet will cash. If there are seven runs in the game and you bet under, then your wager will be a winner.

You can also bet on the totals for individual innings, and you can also bet on the totals for each team.

Betting on the total is a great way to bet on baseball, especially if you think you have a better idea of how many runs will be scored in the game compared to who the winner of the game is. The betting odds for the totals are generally placed at -110 on each side, so you don’t have to lay much juice on the totals.

Our MLB handicappers at Bookies.com and bookies+ bet on a mix of MLB over/under picks, giving picks for game totals all season long. 

If the handicapping team feels like there is good value in betting on totals, then we are going to recommend you place wagers on them, and you’ll have these over/under totals bets sent directly to your email if you sign up for a free bookies+ account here at Bookies.com.

Prop bets are a popular way that people bet on MLB, as many different outcomes happen during games that you can place wagers on. In baseball, you can bet on both batter and hitter props, plus team props.

For hitter props, one of the most exciting ways to bet on MLB is player home runs. The long ball is one of the most exciting plays in all of sports, as there is nothing better than seeing a batter hit one over the fence. 

You can get big odds on player home run props, so if your player hits a long bomb, you could make a lot of money.

In addition to player home run props, player hits are another popular player prop when it comes to batters. Other player prop markets in MLB include total bases, RBIs, and stolen bases.

For pitcher props, the most popular prop bet is undoubtedly strikeouts. Each starting pitcher will have a strikeout line set for them, so if you bet on them to go over or under their strikeout totals, you will win your wager.

You can also bet on team props, such as how many runs a team will get during a game.

At Bookies.com and bookies+, our team of expert handicappers attacks MLB betting from all angles, so expect to have MLB prop picks sent directly to your inbox, giving you exciting betting options when it comes to betting on baseball

There are other ways to bet on MLB aside from the bet types mentioned above.

Placing futures bets, such as on who will win the MLB World Series, is a great way to bet on the sport. If you bet on the World Series winner earlier in the season, you will get much better odds on the victor than if you wait until later in the year to place your bets on the winner. You can also bet on the World Series MVP.

You can also bet on MLB awards, such as the MVP in both leagues, the Cy Young award winners in both leagues, the Rookie of the Year in both leagues and the Manager of the Year in both leagues. 

If you bet earlier in the season on who you think will win the awards, you’ll get even better odds than if you wait until the awards races are more obvious later in the year.

You can also bet on the MLB All-Star Game, which takes place every July, plus you can bet on the MLB All-Star Game MVP. Even better, you can bet on the Home Run Derby. 

The Home Run Derby takes place every July the day before the MLB All-Star Game, and it is considered arguably the most exciting night in the sport as eight of the top sluggers in the league essentially have batting practice as they attempt to hit more home runs than their rivals.

There are tons of different ways you can bet on MLB games, including the following:

• Full-game moneylines
• First five innings moneylines
• Individual inning moneylines
• Full-game spreads (run lines)
• First five innings spreads
• Individual inning spreads (run lines)
• Full-game totals
• First five innings totals
• Individual inning totals
• Team totals
• Player hits
• Player home runs
• Player total bases
• Player RBIs
• Player stolen bases
• Plate appearance outcomes
• Pitcher strikeouts
• Pitcher runs allowed
• Player special markets
• Live bets
• Future bets
• MLB Awards
• MLB All-Star Game
• MLB Home Run Derby

While moneylines are the most straightforward way to bet on MLB games, betting on games via alternative methods such as player props could be a lucrative way to place bets on baseball. At Bookies.com and with bookies+ we always have the best daily MLB bets for you. 

Our team of MLB handicappers sift through all of the available betting odds during the MLB season to give you the best bets for all baseball games. 

The season is long, stretching from the first games in March to the playoffs in November, so there will be plenty of opportunities to bet on the sport, and our handicapping team is here to help you make money on the best bets available.

Without further ado, meet our MLB handicappers:

⚾ Adam Thompson:: Long established as one of the nation's premier handicappers, Adam Thompson joined Bookies.com in 2019 after a successful run as senior handicapper for SportsLine & CBSSports.com. He specializes in the NFL and MLB, where he's hit on well over 60% of his picks the past five years. Adam's NBA and horse racing picks have also produced consistent major winners over the years.

⚾ Bill Speros: Bill Speros is an award-winning journalist and editor whose career includes stops at USA Today Sports Network / Golfweek, Cox Media, ESPN, Orlando Sentinel, and Denver Post.

⚾ Nick Whalen: A multi-time FSGA and FSWA award winner, Nick co-hosts RotoWire's flagship show on Sirius XM Fantasy alongside Jeff Erickson, as well as The RotoWire NBA Show on Sirius XM NBA with Alex Barutha. He also co-hosts RotoWire's Football and Basketball podcasts. You can catch Nick's NBA and NFL analysis on VSiN and DraftKings, as well as RotoWire's various social and video channels.

There are many ways to bet MLB every day through the regular season and MLB postseason, from moneyline, run line and Over/Under totals to futures, props and live betting. Whatever the bet, Bookies.com has you covered with lines for all kinds of wagers ranging from the next World Series winner to MLB picks today for the prime-time games, all from the best expert handicappers out there – and all for free.

Bookies.com has formed a team of experienced and successful MLB handicappers to offer their best MLB betting tips all season. Bookies.com experts have decades of experience breaking down MLB odds and finding the edge over the sportsbooks. They’ve been there and done that and share their advice with you.

Will the Best Odds Always Be Shown for Each MLB Pick?

There are many sportsbooks out there, but the odds for MLB games can differ between them, sometimes dramatically.

That’s why Bookies.com shows the game lines from several sportsbooks, all live and all in the same place. Every MLB game is covered with moneyline, Over/Under and run line odds to give each bettor a chance to compare.

The best odds are pulled exclusively from trusted, U.S.-regulated sports betting sites vetted by Bookies.com. They’re updated constantly so you can immediately find and lock in the best odds for your MLB picks today.

There is no rule against having accounts at multiple sportsbooks – in fact, the smartest players do. That way, you able to compare all of them and take the best MLB odds for the teams you want.

Should I Do My Own Research for MLB Picks Today?

Our experts have years of experience crushing sportsbooks with their free MLB predictions. But it’s always best for a bettor to do their own research so they can feel confident in making their picks. It’s important to stay on top of the news, follow key stakeholders on Twitter and social media and keep tabs on live odds, injury news and more.

Bookies.com is your go-to source for many of the tools needed to create successful tickets. That includes showing team trends on the moneyline, on the Over/Under for total runs and on the run line (links?), as well as the MLB consensus, which shows which side other bettors are placing their money.

Bookies.com handicappers add to the experience with expert insight and a focus that’s made them winners in the field.

What to Consider When Deciding on MLB Picks

There are no sure things in MLB betting. It doesn’t matter what the matchup is, every team can win on any given night, and any team can lose.

But that also presents a unique opportunity. You can win fewer than 50% of your picks and still make a nice profit. In fact, betting on only favorites through an MLB season is likely to lead to a negative bankroll. You’ll win less often backing underdogs, but you could have a better chance of finishing in the black if you do.

A few more MLB betting tips to consider:

Favorites Don’t Win Enough, But Underdogs Do: Teams posted at -150 or higher on the money line have won 63% of games in the last decade. But because the odds are so high, all those victories combined still result in a negative finish.

If you wager on Justin Verlander and the host Houston Astros at -300 to beat the visiting Kansas City Royals, you’re likely to win the bet. But if you don’t, you need to win three more times to break even. It’s not a winning strategy in the long run.

Underdog with odds between +120 and +170, meanwhile, have emerged victorious in 46% of games since 2010. That’s more than enough to earn a nice profit. Backing the right underdogs builds bankroll in the long term. Use our odds calculator to calculate what an underdog might pay when making your baseball picks to help better manage your bankroll.

Outside Influences: Weather affects baseball more than any other outdoor sport. The ball travels less in cold, and wind direction can make the difference in turning a pitcher’s duel into a launchpad.

While umpires try to be as down-the-middle as possible, some have tighter strike zones that force pitchers to aim down the middle. That can lead to more runs. Umps with looser zones improve the pitchers’ chances of success. Ump stats can show one side of the Over/Under is a strong play.

Stadiums are all different, another unique baseball attribute. Some favor hitters or pitchers, some favor lefties or righties. A team full of left-handed power hitters might prefer the shorter wall at Fenway Park, while both sides typically suffer a power outage at AT&T Park in San Francisco.

Study the matchups in MLB games: Starting pitchers are critical to success, and to a successful bet. Each starting pitcher has their own trends, and each batting lineup has tendencies that relate to the starter. Chris Sale is an elite left-handed pitcher – opponents are hitting just .218 against him in his career. The Angels despite Mike Trout are only hitting .143 vs. Sale in 10 career games. But the crosstown Dodgers are hitting .348 off him in three games.

Fade Your Peers: The Bookies.com consensus page reveals the percentage of bets each side of a game is bringing in. Research proves going with the popular vote doesn’t work when making baseball picks.

Over the last 12 seasons, teams receiving fewer than 40% of the bets on the moneyline are winning only 44% of the time. Considering the odds, that’s proven to be enough money to be in the black. Every better prefers a robust wallet over a robust win percentage.

Follow the Pros: Professional bettors, or sharps, spend their day breaking down the lines and the matchups. They know what they’re doing in MLB, which can be heavily researched through statistics. Reverse Line Movement – when the percentage of bets and the percentage of money on a team go in opposite directions – can alert which way the big-money pros are going.

I’ve Made My MLB Pick, Now What?

Congrats! You’ve done your diligence, taken the advice of Bookies.com’s elite team of MLB handicappers, found the best odds at a secure and trustworthy online sportsbook and placed your bet. You can now watch the game with a new sense of excitement that wouldn’t exist without a few bucks on the line.

Bookmark Bookies.com’s free MLB picks and odds pages and return regularly to find the best odds on games, stories on news and futures bets worth backing, plus free picks from the Bookies.com MLB handicappers.

You don’t have to be done if you don’t want to be. MLB and live betting are natural partners, with built-in pauses of a baseball game perfect for bets involving the next at-bat, inning or pitch. Bookies.com has studied and ranked every online sportsbook legal to play in the U.S. and can point you in the right direction.