The Los Angeles Dodgers improved to 8-0 after Shohei Ohtani’s walk-off home run on Wednesday. They now own the MLB record for the longest winning streak to start a season by a defending champion. While that sent the Atlanta Braves to their seventh consecutive loss to start the season, oddsmakers have not soured on them, as the Braves still have +180 odds (better than the Mets) to win the National League East.
Will Atlanta get off the snide Friday?
Read on for our top MLB best bets for Friday, April 4th.
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Friday's Top MLB Picks
(MLB odds courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook)
San Diego Padres (+145) @ Chicago Cubs (-175) | O/U 7.0 (+100/-122)
The Chicago Cubs last made the playoffs in a full season in 2018. They were not considered a runaway favorite by any means in the National League Central, even after acquiring Kyle Tucker, as they were considered to have other question marks in their lineup with Pete Crow-Armstrong and Matt Shaw as everyday players.
Many questions about Chicago’s offense were answered in its last series, where they pounded out 35 runs in a three-game sweep of the Athletics. Chicago heads back to Wrigley for its home opener with Shota Imanaga on the mound.
The Padres have a right-handed dominant lineup, especially with Fernando Tatis Jr. and Manny Machado as their most feared hitters. Imanaga has been nearly as tough on righties as lefties in his career. He has allowed a .221/.262/.383 slash line to right-handed batters and a .207/.237/.333 slash line to lefties. We are getting great value on Chicago’s Moneyline odds, given San Diego is off to a surprising 7-0 start.
Pick: Cubs Moneyline (-175)
Miami Marlins (+185) @ Atlanta Braves (-225) | O/U 7.5 (-115/-105)
Perhaps a change of scenery is all Atlanta needs to end their winless streak to start the season, as schedule makers were not kind, shipping them off to San Diego and Los Angeles to begin the season.
The Braves had scored two runs over 40 innings and were 1-for-34 with runners in scoring position before their series finale against the Dodgers on Wednesday. The loss of Jurickson Profar for 80 games will sting further, but I expect the Braves’ lineup to get right against Max Meyer, who is being overvalued after tying a career-high with seven strikeouts in his first start against the Pirates.
Meyer has allowed a .558 slugging percentage and .899 OPS to right-handed hitters. While his new sinker should help in that department, I need to see it more consistently from Meyer before I back him to shut down Atlanta’s lineup.
Pick: Braves -1.5 (-102)
Tampa Bay Rays (+105) @ Texas Rangers (-125) | O/U 8.5 (-112/-108)
The biggest question mark surrounding the Texas Rangers entering this season was whether they had enough starting pitching depth to complement an offense that figured to be one of the best in the Majors.
Texas got back-to-back masterful pitching performances from Nathan Eovaldi and Jack Leiter in consecutive road shutouts against the Reds. But there is a huge dropoff between those two and tonight’s starter, Tyler Mahle, who was removed from his first start after recording just five outs, largely because he walked four batters in that short span.
Tampa Bay is a live underdog with Zack Littell on the mound after the righty struck out seven batters in six innings in his first start. His 14 whiffs, 27% whiff percentage and 30 CSW% should play well against a Rangers lineup that has scored just two runs over their last 18 innings.
Opening weekend (thru Sunday) Execution+ leaders, min 50 pitches:
1. Tylor Megill, NYM (117)
2. Reese Olson, DET (116)
3. Dean Kremer, BAL (114)
4. Jeffrey Springs, ATH (113)
5. Zack Littell, TB (113)— Leo Tesler (@lnyc194) March 31, 2025
Pick: Rays Moneyline (+105)
Mike Spector is a featured writer at BettingPros. For more from Mike, check out his archive and follow him @MikeSpector01.
