This article is part of our MLB Picks series.
MLB Picks Tonight: MLB Best Bets for Saturday, October 8
RotoWire.com's Juan Carlos Blanco identifies his MLB bets and MLB player props to target today.
Last article: 1-3 (-1.96 RW Bucks)
Season Record: 96-99-4 (-13.05 RW Bucks)
A blister on Shohei Ohtani's throwing hand turned a likely 3-1 day into a 1-3 one on the final day of the regular season by forcing his early exit, but we'll look to rebound with some picks from Saturday night's pair of potential elimination games.
San Diego Padres 
at New York Mets 
Blake Snell undeniably finished the regular season in elite form, as he allowed one or fewer runs in six of his last seven trips to the mound. He posted a 1.76 ERA and 0.4 HR/9 over that span despite giving up five earned runs to the Dodgers in his one poor outing during the sample. Snell shut the Mets out over five innings at Citi Field last time he saw them July 23 as well, though he had a rougher outing June 6 where he gave up five runs (four earned) over four frames at Petco Park. Snell has given up some contact to current Mets bats over the course of his career — he's yielded a collective .259 average and .720 OPS — and New York gave lefties trouble over the last month of the season with a 9.7 percent walk rate (15.4 percent at home), a 17.9 percent strikeout rate, .284 average and an NL-high .362 wOBA.
Jacob deGrom wasn't his dominant self during the 11 starts he logged in 2022, but his long layoff due to shoulder and forearm issues may have had something to do with that. He gets a chance for a reset at a critical time for the Mets on Saturday night and looks to save the season against a Padres team that broke out for four homers against Max Scherzer on Friday night but that recorded just a .296 wOBA and .131 ISO against right-handed pitching in the last month. Additionally, deGrom has held current Padres bats to a .196 average in 105 career encounters while recording 40 strikeouts over that span, and the Mets finished the season with the third-most runs per first five innings per home game (3.05).
MLB Best Bets for Padres at Mets
- Mets -0.5 – 1st 5 innings (-110 on FanDuel Sportsbook) for 1 RW Buck
- Jacob deGrom Over 17.5 outs recorded (-133 on Caesars Sportsbook) for 1 RW Buck
Philadelphia Phillies 
at St. Louis Cardinals 
Aaron Nola had a very uneven second half to say the least, allowing four earned runs or more in five starts and giving up one earned run or twirling a shutout in eight others. The veteran right-hander is facing the Cardinals for the first time in 2022 and is in a favorable matchup on paper, as St. Louis mustered just a .218 average and .292 wOBA against righties at home in the last month of play. Nola was also at his most impressive on the road, where he produced a 3.00 ERA, 0.96 WHIP, 10.3 K/9 and 0.6 HR/9 across 108 innings.
Miles Mikolas turned in a strong season from start to finish for the Cardinals, and he finished the campaign with a 6-3 record, 2.38 ERA and 0.83 WHIP across 94.2 innings in his home park. Mikolas pitched particularly well in his one meeting with the Phillies at Busch Stadium, giving up just one run on six hits over 7.1 innings while recording five strikeouts. Philly also ranked in the bottom half of MLB with 2.28 runs per first five innings per road game.
MLB Best Bets for Phillies at Cardinals
- Under 4 total runs - 1st 5 innings (-175 on BetMGM Sportsbook) for 1 RW Buck
MLB Best Bets Today Recap
- Mets -0.5 – 1st 5 innings (-110 on FanDuel Sportsbook) for 1 RW Buck
- Jacob deGrom Over 17.5 outs recorded (-133 on Caesars Sportsbook) for 1 RW Buck
- Phillies-Cardinals Under 4 total runs - 1st 5 innings (-175 on BetMGM Sportsbook) for 1 RW Buck
Visit RotoWire all season long for exclusive sports betting picks from our group of handicappers with their expert MLB picks each day of the campaign. Remember that betting apps vary in terms of odds and available player props, so we have an easy-to-use odds page that allows you to shop for the best lines at DraftKings, FanDuel, BetMGM and PointsBet.
