Top 3 MLB Odds, Picks & Predictions: Thursday (5/16)
Let’s dive into our top MLB picks from this small six game slate. Here are our top MLB picks for Thursday, May 16.
Thursday’s MLB Best Bets
(Odds courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook)
New York Yankees (+105) at Minnesota Twins (-125) | O/U 8 (-110/-110)
The Yankees have been playing consistently well throughout this season and are one of the few teams that have been able to beat you both ways. The offense has been great all year, but we are seeing Aaron Judge get hot, and the same goes for Giancarlo Stanton. The Yankees’ pitching has been one of the best, especially the rotation without Gerrit Cole. Clark Schmidt is one of those guys in the rotation who has been great this year.
The Twins have been riding the momentum of that offense, specifically the offense as they were batting .284 with 23 home runs in the 20 previous games before this series. Minnesota has a long history of struggling against the Yankees, and that has continued as they have one run in this series. Joe Ryan has been the centerpiece in a stellar rotation, and he pitches well for that stadium because he tails his fastball away from the barrel, and a drop on his split finger keeps the ball down.
Ryan is a guy who can shut down the Yankees’ power, but Schmidt can keep the Twins’ bats quiet.
Pick: Under 8 (-110)
New York Mets (+124) at Philadelphia Phillies (-148) | O/U 8 (-118/-102)
The Mets have faced the top brass of the National League and it isn’t going well. They’ve dropped five of the last six against the Phillies and Braves and overall, they’ve lost eight of their previous 11. The pitching has been brutal in that stretch, with a 4.65 ERA and over a home run allowed per game. Jose Quintana had a great start to the season, which strangely happened mostly against NL Central opponents, a division he’s spent most of his career in, but he’s been struggling recently, with a 7.47 ERA, and a .869 OPS allowed in his last three starts.
Walker’s surface numbers look good, but he has brutal metrics, including an expected batting average in the 17th percentile and a whiff percentage in the eighth. Quintana isn’t trustworthy either, especially with the Phillies’ offense, so look for a high-scoring game.
Pick: Over 8 (-118)
Oakland Athletics (+170) at Houston Astros (-205) | O/U 8 (-118/-102)
The Astros are on the verge of getting a four-game sweep over the Athletics. This has been the best Houston has looked all season, and they have won back-to-back series for the first time in 2024. Cristian Javier is coming off the worst start of his career, as he pitched just 1.1 innings and allowed seven earned runs.
The Athletics are starting to show their true colors. They looked great when they were 17-17 and riding a six-game winning streak, but they’ve been just 2-9 since. This is an all-or-nothing lineup; they’re fourth in home run rate, but haven’t touched them in the last three games. Joey Estes got his first MLB win in his previous start against the Mariners, going five innings, allowing one earned run, and striking out five.
This will be a much tougher matchup and Astros should pull out the brooms.
Pick: Astros -1.5 (+100)