Caleb Wilfinger
The first weekend of the 2025 MLB season is rolling into Monday with a 14-game schedule. I was a perfect 2-0 in my first best bets piece of the season and the Pickswise MLB handicapping team as a whole is 7-1 this season. Let’s keep it going as we get into my MLB best bets of the day!
Also don’t forget to check out our MLB picks for Monday’s slate. Additionally, don’t miss our 2025 MLB futures guide, which features win total futures, best bets on the MVP, Cy Young and Rookie of the Year, division winner selections and World Series predictions from our team of experts.
MLB best bet: Philadelphia Phillies -1.5 over Colorado Rockies (-115)
Odds available at FanDuel Sportsbook at time of publishing
For our first best bet on Monday’s slate, we’re heading to Philadelphia for game between the Colorado Rockies and Philadelphia Phillies. The Rockies were expected to be one of the worst teams in baseball heading into this season, and the campaign didn’t get off to a great start for Colorado, dropping 2 of 3 to the Rays and struggling mightily at the plate in that series. On the other side, Philadelphia picked up a series victory over the Nationals, and that momentum should carry over into its home opener.
Through their first 3 games, the Rockies are ranked 25th in OPS (.555), with only one home run and putting up an average of 2.7 runs per game in that span. Now, things will get even tougher for Colorado against Christopher Sanchez, a lefty with tremendous stuff who has gotten better with each season in the big leagues. Sanchez posted a 1.62 ERA in 5 spring training starts with a 0.84 WHIP, and he’s certainly the much better pitcher in this matchup, with German Marquez getting the start on the other side. Philadelphia’s bats should bounce back from Sunday’s defeat against the struggling Marquez (5.74 ERA in spring training), so I’ll back the Phillies to win comfortably on Monday.
MLB best bet: Cincinnati Reds ML over Texas Rangers (+105)
Odds available at BetMGM Sportsbook at time of publishing
For our second and final best bet, let’s back the Cincinnati Reds at home against the Texas Rangers. The Reds are a team that I’m optimistic about this season, and while they dropped 2 out of 3 to the Giants to open the season, they’re catching the Rangers in a good spot following a series win over the Red Sox. This will be the 5th straight game that Texas has played to open the season, and it wouldn’t surprise me if a key bat in the Rangers lineup is scratched for a rest day prior to first pitch. Texas is sending the right-hander Kumar Rocker to the mound, and the talented pitcher is looking to build on his couple of solid starts in his first taste of big league action a season ago. However, he’s had a bit of a concerning spring training, allowing 14 hits and 9 runs while also walking 9 batters in 12 innings of work.
On the other side, Cincinnati will counter with Brady Singer, whose profile suggests that he should be able to induce a lot of ground balls from a Texas lineup that has been living by the extra-base hit to this point in the season. Additionally, while Singer’s numbers a season ago weren’t anything to write home about, he does have the tendency to start seasons off quickly, and I’d expect him to be pretty comfortable against a potentially slightly weaker Rangers lineup. The Rangers have also won back-to-back games by 1 run heading into this series, so there might be a bit of close game regression in play as well, although it’s likely a bit too early in the season for that to become a trend. As home underdogs, I’ll take a shot with the Reds to get the job done.
