The 2026 season is in full swing now, and Sunday's MLB slate is packed with 12 excellent games, 11 of them in the early afternoon.
The day begins with three contests at 1:35 p.m. ET and ends with the first Sunday Night Baseball of the season, as the Guardians close out their series against the Mariners in Seattle at 7:20 p.m. ET.
Our staff of MLB betting experts has grabbed five of their Best MLB Picks Today and our Best Bets on Sunday, March 29.
MLB Picks Today: Sunday's Best Bets
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 |
|---|---|---|
  | 1:35 PM | |
  | 1:35 PM | |
  | 2:10 PM | |
  | 2:15 PM | |
  | 7:20 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. | ||
Royals vs Braves Best Bet
By Sean Paul
The Royals' Seth Lugo has a strong track record, but I think he's on the downswing of his career at age 36. I plan to fade Lugo in the right matchups and view this as one of them.
Kansas City has the potential to be one of the top offensive teams in the American League. Bobby Witt Jr. is a full-fledged superstar, recording a 130 wRC+ or better the past two seasons. The Royals also have Maikel Garcia, Vinnie Pasquantino and Salvador Perez in the top four of the lineup.
Injuries have once again just ravaged this Braves rotation. One of the few healthy options is Grant Holmes, who turned in a 3.99 with a 4.54 xERA and 4.40 FIP last season in his first year as a full-time starter.
Holmes has some real potential if he can cut down his walks. He issued a 4.23 BB/9 last year, which made his 9.63 K/9 look less impressive.
How about this Braves lineup? They hadn't scored on Saturday until a sixth-run ninth inning, capped by a Dom Smith walk-off grand slam that gave them the win.
Ronald Acuna Jr. has just one hit so far this year, but the floodgates will open once he starts hitting. Drake Baldwin, Matt Olson and Austin Riley are also terrific hitters to bring the speedy Acuna in when he gets on base.
I also think the Braves have a pulse at the middle-to-bottom of the order this year, which they didn't last year. The addition of Mike Yastrzemski is much better than anything the Braves trotted out in left field last year.
Bullpen-wise, the Braves have a huge edge over the Royals.
I'll take the Braves -146. Anything below -160 is solid, as that's where I place the line.
Read Paul's full Royals-Braves preview here:
Pick: Braves ML (-146 or Better)
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Bet Labs' MLB System Pick
By Bet Labs
We have a southpaw pitching duel this afternoon.
MacKenzie Gore will make his first start for the Rangers after a lackluster 2025 season with his former team, the Nationals.
He will probably benefit from American League hitters being unfamiliar with his stuff. Also, Philadelphia did worse last season against southpaws, with a wRC+ of 106 and a .253 average compared to 109 and .261 against righties.
Meanwhile, the Phillies' Jesus Luzardo finished strong with 3.12 and 3.21 in August and September, and had a great postseason with 2.35 in two outings.
Our Bet Labs "Unders Formula (Wind, Temp, No Outliers)" system also recommends the under based on environmental factors.
This system isolates regular-season games where weather and market conditions align to suppress scoring.
It focuses on Games 1–3 of a series, started between 6:00 a.m. and 7:59 p.m. ET, with closing totals between 8 and 10 runs and moderate betting splits (O/U % between 1% and 60%).
Environmental filters play a key role: temperatures between 27–70 degrees, wind speeds of 2–13 mph, and wind direction either blowing in or across the field — all factors shown to reduce offensive output.
It avoids extreme over/under streaks and targets competitive matchups (home moneyline between -227 and +150).
The system bets the under when market expectations, game context, and weather patterns point to lower-than-expected run production — consistently exploiting soft totals inflated by public bias or overlooked conditions.
Pick: Under 8 (-118 or Better)
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Angels vs Astros Prop Pick
By Derek Carty
There may be some value in the Angels' Jack Kochanowicz's pitching outs prop.
THE BAT X is projecting him to record 15.94 pitching outs, and oddsmakers are implying 13.16.
The model believes there is a 77% chance he records at least 14 pitching outs, so there is value on the over at -115.
Love THE BAT X? Get all of Carty’s sports betting projections at EV Analytics!
Pick: Jack Kochanowicz Over 13.5 Outs (-115 or Better)
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Rays vs Cardinals Top Prop Edge
By Action PRO
PRO projects Rays right fielder Jake Fraley for 1.31 hits in their matchup against the Cardinals today, giving us a nice 14% edge against the market when compared to his current prop line of over/under 0.5, which is good enough to mark the Over with a B+ grade in our system.
Fraley finished the 2025 season in great form after being acquired by the Braves. He hit .304 in 23 t-bats with Atlanta.
Today, he will face the Cardinals' Dustin May, which should help him get his second hit of the season.
Fraley hits much better against RHP, with 20 more points on average in 2025 compared to his numbers against lefties.
May did poorly last season for both the Dodgers and Red Sox, with an ERA of 4.85 and 5.40, respectively, so let's back Fraley to get a hit against him this afternoon.
Pick: Jake Fraley Over 0.5 Hits (-145 or Better)
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Guardians vs Mariners Over/Under Pick
Both starters, Slade Cecconi and Emerson Hancock, are unlikely to go more than five innings in this game. That's partly because it's their season debuts, but also because they're backend starters.
Then you have to consider that these teams just played an extra-inning game.
High-leverage relievers like Cade Smith (28 pitches) and Andres Muñoz (20 pitches) had heavy workloads, so they may be unavailable for this one.
I know that T-Mobile Park is one of the most pitcher-friendly environments in baseball, but 7.5 runs feels too low considering the probable starters and the taxed bullpens. For context, this number was 7.5 with an ace like Bryan Woo on the mound last night.
Feels like this should be listed at 8.5. With that in mind, we'll take a shot on the over here.
Read Ammirante's full Guardians-Mariners preview here:
Pick: Over 7.5 (-112, or Better)
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