Welcome to the MLB Best Bets and Betting Picks for Sunday, May 21. The 2023 MLB season has been a wild one to date but let’s look to end the week on a high note and build that bankroll for the upcoming week of games! We have 16 games on today’s slate and more important, there are zero weather issues expected to impact today’s games. When looking at the MLB Vegas Odds and MLB player props there are some juicy matchups to target today so let’s get into the action!

 

Framber Valdez to get the Win (-115 DraftKings Sportsbook)

We love this matchup for Valdez today as the Astros are -340 to win the game on the moneyline and are even -170 on the run line at -1.5. Why pay those odds when the starting pitcher to get the win is sitting at -115? Sure, Valdez has been a bit snake-bitten in the win department this season, owning just a 3-4 record despite pitching to a 2.84 ERA but with Oakland sending James Kaprielan to the mound and the Astros being such big favorites this feels like a spot where Houston jumps out to a big lead and Framber shuts the door on the A’s.

Cleveland Guardians Under 3.5 Total Runs (-115 DraftKings Sportsbook)

The Guardians offense just hasn’t been all that good this season and while I know they put up runs against the Mets on Friday they draw a returning Max Scherzer in today’s matchup. On the season against right-handed pitching the Guardians rank 28th in total runs, 28th in wOBA, 28th in OPS and 25th in batting average. This doesn’t feel like a matchup they are destined to flip the script on us.  

Same Game Parlay

Oakland Athletics vs Houston Astros (+475 DraftKings Sportsbook)

Who doesn’t love a little Sunday Funday same game parlay? Let’s go back and attack this matchup with the Astros taking on the Athleltics shall we? Oakland is sending righty James Kaprielian to the mound and while he may be a nice guy he has also been an absolute disaster on the mound this season, allowing 26 runs on 30 hits over 23 innings pitched. Everyone is hitting Kaprielian this season but lefties have especially knocked him around as they are hitting .327 with a .712 slugging percentage and an OPS of 1.147. So, let’s ride with the Astros scoring first, finishing with more than 3.5 total runs today with lefties Yordan Alvarez and Kyle Tucker doing some damage for nearly 5x return on our money!