Top MLB Betting Picks for April 15
MLB 2026 betting record: 5-7, -2.75 units
It's a busy day of baseball for a Thursday. Ten MLB games are on the April 16 slate, and I have my eyes on three of them.
I have a pair of predictions for the afternoon matchup between the Texas Rangers and Athletics, and a pick each from the final two games of the night.
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Texas Rangers vs. Athletics Best Bets and Predictions
Jack Leiter over 5.5 strikeouts (-106 FanDuel)
Rangers ML (-117 BetRivers)
Provided he doesn't get bombed at the Athletics' hitter-friendly stadium, Leiter should be able to provide some length for the Rangers after Mackenzie Gore and Kumar Rocker logged just 4.2 innings apiece in back-to-back starts. That length will give Leiter more opportunity to pile up strikeouts against an Athletics team that has the highest K rate in the American League. Gore recorded five strikeouts vs. them, while Rocker and Nathan Eovaldi, who started the series opener, both cleared this line.
Leiter notched 17 Ks over his first two starts, topping this number both times, before compiling four in a rough outing vs. the league-best Los Angeles Dodgers. But the hard-throwing righty was strong in spring and upped his K% significantly in the second half last season (19.9% to
Top MLB Betting Picks for April 15
MLB 2026 betting record: 5-7, -2.75 units
It's a busy day of baseball for a Thursday. Ten MLB games are on the April 16 slate, and I have my eyes on three of them.
I have a pair of predictions for the afternoon matchup between the Texas Rangers and Athletics, and a pick each from the final two games of the night.
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Texas Rangers vs. Athletics Best Bets and Predictions
Jack Leiter over 5.5 strikeouts (-106 FanDuel)
Rangers ML (-117 BetRivers)
Provided he doesn't get bombed at the Athletics' hitter-friendly stadium, Leiter should be able to provide some length for the Rangers after Mackenzie Gore and Kumar Rocker logged just 4.2 innings apiece in back-to-back starts. That length will give Leiter more opportunity to pile up strikeouts against an Athletics team that has the highest K rate in the American League. Gore recorded five strikeouts vs. them, while Rocker and Nathan Eovaldi, who started the series opener, both cleared this line.
Leiter notched 17 Ks over his first two starts, topping this number both times, before compiling four in a rough outing vs. the league-best Los Angeles Dodgers. But the hard-throwing righty was strong in spring and upped his K% significantly in the second half last season (19.9% to 26.3%). He enters tonight's start with a 94th percentile whiff rate and a robust 12.89 K/9 rate. And while Sutter Health Park is an offensive paradise, the forecast is not expected to lend itself to favorable hitting conditions. There's a lot to like here.
Thanks to the pitching advantage Leiter provides, I like Texas to win at a good price. The Athletics are starting lefty Jacob Lopez, who has strikeout stuff but is struggling mightily to find the zone. Lopez surrendered a season-high five runs last start and walked three, which was an improvement from the five he issued in back-to-back outings to begin the season. Control has been an area of concern for Lopez in the past, and those free passes leave him vulnerable to big innings.
Beyond the starters, Texas' bullpen enters in strong form, sporting the second-best ERA and strand rate in MLB.
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Colorado Rockies vs. Houston Astros Best Bets and Predictions
Over 8.5 runs (-120 theScore Bet)
I expect this game to resemble the series opener more than last night's 3-1 Astros win. Houston won a 7-6 slugfest on Tuesday and tonight's pitching matchup should set us up for more scoring.
The Astros rank third in runs per game and second in wRC+ and on-base percentage. They're hitting for average and power and walking at a top-10 rate. Behind Yordan Alvarez's scorching hot start, it's a tough offense to contain at the moment.
Colorado will go with the wild Juan Mejia as the opener before turning to Chase Dollander for bulk innings. While Dollander has been solid since getting hammered in his first outing, Colorado pitchers don't possess much strikeout stuff and the Astros have the third-lowest K rate in baseball.
Houston should put plenty of balls in play. We aren't treated to Coors Field, but a domed Daikin Park is a strong home run-hitting venue and should be a solid source of offense tonight.
The Rockies are a bottom-three team in wRC+, but the club blasted Astros starter Ryan Weiss in Colorado earlier in the month. Weiss will be followed by a Houston bullpen that ranks last in the AL in walk rate and ERA.
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Seattle Mariners vs. San Diego Padres Best Bets and Predictions
Luke Raley to record a hit (-135 FanDuel)
The Mariners outfielder is on an absolute tear and coming off a 4-for-5 night in which he scored twice, hit a bomb and plated two runs. He had a pair of three-hit games in two of the three contests before that and enters tonight with a .339 average and 1.035 OPS. The left-handed hitting Raley is best served in a strong side of a platoon role, with a career OPS of .800 vs. righties (it's .533 vs. southpaws), and he'll enjoy a favorable matchup tonight.
Walker Buehler gets the start for the Padres. He's coming off his best performance with San Diego, but it came against the Road Rockies. He pitched poorly in his two outings before that and has been dreadful over the last three seasons. He doesn't miss many bats anymore and gets torched by LHBs. Raley has at least one hit in 11 of the 14 games he's started, and I like his chances of building on that in the series finale.
Raley has been batting sixth, slotting him behind some good (though underperforming) hitters. That should put him in a run-producing position, making some other props attractive as well, such as his +130 price (via theScore Bet) to go over 1.5 hits/runs/RBIs.
MLB Picks Recap
Jack Leiter over 5.5 strikeouts (-106 FanDuel)
Rangers moneyline (-117 BetRivers)
Over 8.5 runs (-120 theScore Bet)
Luke Raley to record a hit (-135 FanDuel)
