Welcome to another full day of Major League Baseball action as Tuesday brings along a whopping 17 games on the MLB schedule. As always, we have your MLB best bets and MLB betting picks for your sports wagering pleasure today. Howard Bender is out today, so I will try to keep the winners coming in his absence. We'll target the Arizona Diamondbacks vs St. Louis Cardinals matchup to start and then look towards the Atlanta Braves vs. San Diego Padres showdown to cap off the night. Let's now dive into the MLB picks and best bets for Tuesday, April 18th. Good luck!

 

MLB Best Bets April 18

Arizona Diamondbacks at St. Louis Cardinals

Jordan Montgomery vs. Drey Jameson doesn’t exactly scream “pitcher’s duel,” but the two starters can certainly limit the damage enough to keep this game lower-scoring. Montgomery has a 2.45 ERA and 2.29 FIP through three starts this season as he’s continued his post-trade success from last year. After being dealt to the Cardinals from the Yankees at last year’s deadline, the lefty had a resurgent end to the regular season with a 3.11 ERA over 11 starts in a St. Louis uniform. It looks like he’s carried that over into 2023. Montgomery will face an Arizona lineup that only has a .307 wOBA and 85 wRC+ against left-handed pitching this year (20th and 22nd in MLB, respectively). 

On the other side, we have the 25-year-old Jameson off to a solid start for the Diamondbacks this season. He has a strong 1.46 ERA over 12.1 innings and tossed four shutout frames against the Milwaukee Brewers last time out. Jameson has been moved into the starting rotation after starting the year as a long reliever, so he may not go deep into the game. That’s why we’re keeping this bet to the first five innings. 

Pick: Diamondbacks/Cardinals 1st 5 Innings UNDER 4.5 Runs (-130 DraftKings Sportsbook)

Atlanta Braves at San Diego Padres

The Braves are rolling right now with a current seven-game winning streak and a 13-4 record on the year. On the surface, it may seem simple to back a team this hot – but we have a few key reasons to put our money on Atlanta to keep it going. First off, Spencer Strider toes the rubber for the Braves tonight. The emerging star has been decent this season with a 3.38 ERA, but there should be some better outings coming as his 2.26 FIP suggests. Strider has racked up 27 K’s in 16 innings so far and he’ll face a strikeout-prone San Diego lineup. Speaking of the Padres, they just got shut out last night (by Atlanta) for the second game in a row. This offense badly needs Fernando Tatis Jr.. Jr. to return from his suspension as multiple San Diego hitters are struggling at the plate, including Juan Soto (.164 BA), Manny Machado (.239), and Jake Cronenworth (.207). 

Meanwhile, Padres starter Blake Snell has been pretty awful on the mound this season. He has a 6.92 ERA and a 2.15 WHIP over three starts with San Diego losing all of his outings so far. One of those starts came against the Braves when he gave up four runs, six hits, and four walks in just 3.2 innings. The advanced metrics say it won’t get much better in the short team for Snell, who has a 6.17 FIP and 4.76 xFIP right now. Snell has a history of starting the season slow and it seems he’s stuck in that slump again this year. A better performance likely won’t come against an Atlanta offense that’s lighting up left-handed pitching this season to the tune of a .387 wOBA (2nd in MLB), .324 BA (2nd), and .877 OPS (3rd). 

Pick: Braves ML (-135 BetMGM Sportsbook)

**All bets are one unit unless specifically mentioned**

 

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