We have a full 15-game slate today, starting early with Cardinals vs Reds at 1:10 PM ET at Great American Ballpark on MLB.TV, and closing with Rangers vs Angels at 10:05 PM ET at Angel Stadium on MLB.TV.
Our experts have analyzed the matchups and found great options for Saturday, May 23.
Below are 4 expert MLB best bets today.
MLB Best Bets Today
The team logos in the table below represent each of the matchups that our MLB betting staff is targeting from today's slate of games. Click on the team logos for any of the matchups below to navigate to a specific bet discussed in this article.
| Game | Time (ET) | Pick |
|---|---|---|
  | 1:10 PM | |
  | 4:10 PM | |
  | 7:15 PM | |
  | 10:05 PM | |
Specific betting recommendations come from the sportsbook offering preferred odds as of writing. Always shop for the best price using our MLB Odds page, which automatically surfaces the best lines for every game. | ||
Ryan Minion's Cardinals vs Reds Prediction
By Ryan Minion
Despite a relatively disappointing first three years for Saint Louis’ former highly-touted prospect, Jordan Walker has taken a massive leap in 2026 and has quickly established himself as one of baseball’s premier sluggers.
The Cardinals’ 23-year-old phenom ranks inside the top-10 in several statistical categories, having smashed 13 home runs, driven in 34 RBIs, and has been slashing at the plate with a 0.938 OPS thus far.
While Saint Louis’ fanbase was certainly worried about its top prospect across his first few years in the MLB, the Cardinals’ youngster has silenced the critics and is now the best player on the entire ball club.
In addition to his scorching form at the plate, Walker gets a very favorable matchup in Cincinnati, as veteran right-hander Chris Paddack is set to take the mound for the Reds amid a terrible 2026 campaign.
The Reds’ 30-year-old was just signed to a one-year contract after having recorded career-low numbers on the mound to start his 2026 campaign with the Marlins. Paddack’s 7.63 ERA across seven outings with Miami was enough for the club to release him.
Though Paddack slightly improved in his first start with the Reds, having allowed two earned runs across five frames, I expect Paddack to continue his horrific form as Cincinnati hosts a red-hot Cardinal bunch.
While Walker is hitless in three prior plate appearances against the Reds’ veteran, the Cardinals’ youngster is an entirely different player this season and has a hard-contact profile at the plate, which should pose problems for Paddack.
Saint Louis’ superstar has drastically changed his batting stance, resulting in a complete transformation from a hitter with a high ground-ball rate to one who can generate substantial power at the plate with a much higher barrel rate.
Walker’s elite exit velocities and slugging metrics against right-handed pitching should be problematic for Paddack, given his current form.
Paddack’s command issues in 2026 have resulted in the Reds’ righty having to rely far more on his four-seam fastball, which happens to be Walker’s most favorable pitch to display his raw power at the plate.
Given Walker’s improved patience at the plate, I do not expect him to chase Paddack’s off-speed arsenal, and the Cardinals’ star could very well smash a high-velocity fastball if it is left up in the zone.
That said, I feel great backing Walker to exceed his total bases prop.
Pick: Jordan Walker Over 1.5 Total Bases (-130 or Better)
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Sean Paul's Mariners vs Royals Best Bet
By Sean Paul
I'm rolling with the Under.
Stephen Kolek will probably give up a few runs, but Kaufmann Stadium is good at keeping the ball in the yard. That should help his home run issues.
Meanwhile, I don't see this porous Royals offense scoring on George Kirby.
How about this? Kansas City has scored three or fewer runs in five straight games.
That seems unlikely to change against a pitcher of Kirby's caliber.
Pick: Under 8 (-110 or Better)
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Tanner McGrath's Dodgers vs Brewers Best Bet
This game got lit up by a few of our Action PRO tools.
First, this PRO betting system, powered by Evan Abrams:
As written by Abrams:
The Road Tilt in the Dead Heat system targets MLB regular-season games where two evenly matched teams — based on win percentage — meet in a non-division setting, and one is quietly priced as a modest road favorite. When there's no clear performance gap, but the market still tilts slightly toward the road team, it suggests underlying confidence from oddsmakers that may not be reflected in public perception. This model seizes those subtle cues, leaning into the narrow value created by near-identical records and overlooked road strength.
Additionally, our own Sean Zerillo projects some value on the Dodgers ML. While the consensus line sits around Dodgers -120, he makes the number closer to Dodgers -150.
You can get all of Zerillo's projected lines with an Action PRO subscription. Just click on the MLB projections tab after signing up.
I'd like to add that Dodgers starter Roki Sasaki had his best start of the season last time out, tossing seven one-run innings with eight strikeouts against the Angels. He has the stuff, but he simply needs to settle in, and he could be undervalued for the time being.
Pick: Dodgers ML (-135 or Better)
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Matt Trollo's Rangers vs Angels Prediction
By Matt Trollo
Nathan Eovaldi squashed any injury concerns after missing a start when he returned to throw seven shutout innings, striking out eight in Houston. He struck out just as many in eight innings of one-run ball in the Bronx in his previous start.
In fact, Eovaldi also threw seven shutout innings twice more in the four starts preceding that. Those were also against the Yankees and in Sacramento.
That’s one hell of a run, and while Eovaldi’s 3.62 ERA this season is two runs higher than last year and in line with his peripherals, that’s still a very good pitcher.
If you count only his last three starts, it’s a 25% K-BB, so there’s certainly room to reach last year’s career best 21.8% again (22.6% in the pandemic season).
Eovaldi is even throwing a half MPH harder than last year (94.6), and the reason I suggest last year’s heights are still within reach is that his swinging strike rate has improved from 12.8% to 15.2% (also a career best by 2.2 points) and his pitch modeling has improved (3.90 Bot ERA from 4.01 and 107 Pitching+ from 105).
It’s safe to say that time has not yet caught up to the 36-year-old A2 to Jacob DeGrom’s A1 on the Texas staff.
On the other side, Walbert Urena’s 2.70 ERA isn’t much lower than his 2.96 xERA through 33.1 innings (six starts, two relief appearances), but only two pitchers with as many innings have a lower hard hit rate than his 29.5%, and nobody with at least 200 batted ball events last year was below 31%.
In other words, I don’t think it’s sustainable, and I expect him to regress closer to some of his contact neutral estimators closer to four and a half with his 13.1% BB.
Maybe not all the way, but I don’t expect an above-average pitcher. In fact, the projections on his Fangraphs page all exceed four and a half.
The pitch modeling is more conflicting. Pitching Bot sees a potential league average arm (4.13 Bot ERA), but Pitching+ (110) thinks he may have something. Mostly in the changeup, he throws 35.6% of the time (133), which also receives an elite 67 PB grade, but it's very hard to be a one-trick pitcher in this league. There are very few.
Regardless, Eovaldi is the substantially better pitcher, and I also give the Rangers (109 wRC+ Road/104 v RHP) a significant offensive edge over the Angels (68 wRC+ Home/87 vs RHP).
Even without Corey Seager, the projected Texas lineup has a 28-point higher wRC+ than the Los Angeles projected starters over the last month.
The Rangers may not be special defensively (proj. -3 FRV) or in the bullpen (3.51 FIP/4.30 xFIP/4.08 SIERA), but are still miles ahead of the Angels (-15 FRV, 5.46 FIP/4.74 xFIP/4.30 SIERA).
It’s a bit perplexing why one of the better proven pitchers in the league is undervalued here (-132 FD), though not by too much, as we end this with the only favorite of the day.
Pick: Rangers ML (-138 or Better)
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