MLB betting picks, top odds & value plays – April 20, 2022

Here we go again with some of our favorite MLB betting picks for Wednesday’s slate of games. All odds come courtesy of Bovada – the top-ranked baseball betting site for gamblers in United States.

Atlanta Braves (+1.5, +130) @ Los Angeles Dodgers (-1.5, -150)

Probable pitchers: Charlie Morton vs Tony Gonsolin

The Dodgers are off to a scorching 8-2 start and have looked every bit as dominant as people had pegged them to be going into the season. The Braves, on the other hand, have looked as if they might be suffering from a World Series hangover and desperately missing Ronald Acuna Jr and Freddie Freeman in the lineup. Luckily for the Braves, one of those two will return sometime soon. The Braves are off to a 5-7 start to their World Series victory tour, and playing the Dodgers won’t help their cause.

Regardless of the struggles the Braves have had thus far, they won the World Series a year ago with virtually the same roster with a worse bullpen. Kenley Jansen has been great thus far and hopefully will get an opportunity to close one out against his former ball club in the coming days. Charlie Morton has given up seven earned runs across a little more than 10 innings thus far, while Gonsolin has only given up one earned run across seven innings. Morton is a proven veteran and, despite a rocky start, doesn’t look cooked yet.

All things considered, this should be a close matchup between two very good teams. The Braves +1.5 seems like a safe play despite the slow start.

Cincinnati Reds (+1.5, +140) @ San Diego Padres (-1.5, -160)

Probable pitchers: Vladimir Gutierrez vs MacKenzie Gore

Things aren’t going very well for the Reds right now. Their owner is at war with fans and they seem to be spiraling day by day. It looks like it might be a long season in Cincinnati after taking an ax to their team this offseason. The Padres are a part of perhaps the toughest division in all of baseball with the Dodgers and Giants. The Padres have done their part thus far as they’re at 7-5 and just need to hold down the fort till Fernando Tatis Jr can return from a broken wrist in the offseason.

Wednesday’s probable pitcher, MacKenzie Gore, was the third overall pick just a few years ago and made his long-anticipated debut last week pitching 5.1 innings and allowing three hits and two earned runs. Gore’s potential is through the roof, and while he might not find it this year, he is a much better pick than Vladimir Gutierrez to throw some shutdown innings. Gutierrez has had some tough draws thus far as he’s been knocked around by both the Braves and Dodgers, two of the deeper lineups in baseball.

The Padres at the moneyline is the pick here. There won’t be many times this year that warrant picking the Reds.

San Francisco Giants (-1.5, -120) @ New York Mets (+1.5, +100)

Probable pitchers: Carlos Rondon vs Chris Bassitt

Now, this is a matchup between two of the better teams in the NL. The MLB betting sites are offering almost a pick ’em here. Carlos Rondon is our pick to win the NL Cy Young Award this season, and Bassitt has been a great addition to a Mets rotation that is allowing the fewest earned runs in baseball this year. Rondon in his first two starts with the Giants has pitched a total of 12 innings and only given up two earned runs and five hits. Bassitt, on the other hand, has pitched the same amount of innings (12) and given up fewer walks, hits, and has racked up more strikeouts.

Both have been off to great starts, and even though the Giants lost a few pieces in free agency, they look to be right back in contention again this year. The game being played on the East Coast in New York gives the Mets some juice, but going up against Rondon has proven to be no easy task, so the Giants -120 and the under on seven total runs are the plays here. Look for this one to be a good old-fashioned pitchers’ duel going into the later innings despite two pretty potent offenses.

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