MLB Best Bets and Betting Picks for September 14th
Welcome back to another round of MLB betting picks as we take a deep dive into the Major League Baseball schedule for Thursday night. While you enjoy the Thursday Night Football Vikings vs Eagles matchup, why not have some MLB bets in the mix as well?! Our top MLB picks today feature an AL East showdown between the Tampa Bay Rays and Baltimore Orioles. Plus, we look at an MLB player prop in the San Francisco Giants vs Colorado Rockies matchup tonight. Be sure to check out the latest MLB weather report and the confirmed MLB lineups when placing those MLB bets today. Plus, the MLB daily projections will help you find the best matchups for MLB betting picks and MLB DFS lineups. Let's dive into the top MLB bets and baseball props today for Thursday, September 14th.
MLB Best Bets for September 14
Tampa Bay Rays at Baltimore Orioles
The Baltimore Orioles and Tampa Bay Rays start up a huge series tonight with plenty of AL East and playoff implications. The O’s hold just a two-game lead over the Rays in the division standings before this four-game series gets underway. Baltimore is coming off back-to-back losses to the Cardinals and will be looking to rebound here at home. In fact, the Orioles haven’t lost three games in a row in over two months and they’ve only lost 3+ games in a row twice this whole season. That’s a good track record for a team that’s consistently avoided losing streaks.
Kyle Bradish is on the mound for Baltimore and he’s turned it on lately. The right-hander is looking like a true ace for the American League’s best team. He has a 2.38 ERA and 2.88 FIP over his last seven starts since the start of August. The Orioles have also won all seven of those games with Bradish posting six straight quality starts. The Rays offense, on the other hand, is about league-average vs righties over the past two weeks (.319 wOBA, 107 wRC+).
Meanwhile, the Orioles offense should provide enough run support for Bradish and the bullpen to hold things down. Rays starter Aaron Civale has stumbled a bit recently with a 5.31 ERA over his last five starts and a 4.29 ERA since he joined the Tampa rotation at the trade deadline. Civale’s 3.62 xERA this season is also worrisome compared to his current 2.96 ERA, as some negative regression could still be coming. The Baltimore offense is one of the league’s best vs right-handed pitching lately with a .371 wOBA, .233 ISO, and 139 wRC+ in the past week. The pitching matchup and offensive advantages for the Orioles both point to a home win to maintain control of the AL East.
Pick: Baltimore Orioles ML (-135 on DraftKings)
San Francisco Giants at Colorado Rockies
The San Francisco Giants head over to Coors Field for tonight's matchup against the Colorado Rockies. It's always risky betting on a pitcher prop when he's in the hitter-friendly Coors, but we're doing it here with Logan Webb. The Giants right-hander gets a favorable matchup against a Rockies offense that's struggled vs righties lately. Over the past two weeks, the Colorado hitters have just a .307 wOBA and 77 wRC+ against right-handed pitching with a high 25.8% strikeout rate.
As for Webb, he has at least five K's in 22 of 30 starts this season. He also 5+ strikeouts in five of his past eight outings. This line is a tad too low based on his track record this year and the plus-matchup. Of course, pitching on the road in Colorado is the big worry. Still, Webb struck out 10 against the Rockies back in June (at home) and can get to 5-6 K's here even if he allows a few runs. It's worth noting that Webb did just face Colorado last start and struck out four over six shutout innings. Let's bank on him making some adjustments and getting at least one more K this time.
Pick: Logan Webb Over 4.5 Strikeouts (-125 on BetMGM)
Player News
Brandon Woodruff (shoulder, ankle, elbow) will make a minor league rehab start this weekend for Triple-A Nashville.
Woodruff has been dealing with a laundry list of injuries of late and there’s seemingly no point in guessing when he’ll finally be ready to make his long-awaited season debut. The 32-year-old former fantasy ace will get back into minor league game action later this week after completing a 40-pitch bullpen session over the weekend. He might be ready to rejoin Milwaukee’s rotation in July. We’re not holding our breath.
Alek Manoah (elbow) threw a 25-pitch live batting practice session over the weekend.
Manoah continues to work his way back from last year’s Tommy John surgery and figures to be close to kicking off a rehab assignment at some point in July. There’s a decent chance he’s an option for Toronto’s rotation at some point in the final two months of the season.
Whit Merrifield announced his retirement from professional baseball after nine seasons.
Merrifield officially hangs up his spikes after a nine-year career in the big leagues from 2016-2024. The 36-year-old went from unheralded prospect to a three-time All-Star with the Royals before spending the final three seasons of his career between the Blue Jays, Phillies and Braves. He steps away with 1,249 hits, 94 home runs and 218 stolen bases across 1,147 career games.
Daulton Varsho is dealing with renewed hamstring soreness.
The Blue Jays are going to pull back a bit with Varsho after experienced some soreness after running the bases over the weekend. The 28-year-old will continue hitting and could potentially be cleared for a rehab assignment at some point in the near future once he ramps-up again from a baserunning standpoint.
Orioles signed C Jacob Stallings to a minor league contract.
Stallings provides Baltimore with some experienced emergency catching depth while Adley Rutschman (oblique) and Maverick Handley (concussion) are on the injured list. The 35-year-old veteran backstop was cut loose earlier this month by the Rockies after hitting .143 (12-for-84) over 28 games this season. He’s appeared in 561 contests in the big leagues dating back to 2016.
Cubs activated RHP Porter Hodge from the 15-day injured list.
Hodge returns to Chicago’s high-leverage mix, and figures to be in the mix for the occasional save chance, following a five-week absence recovering from oblique and hip injuries. The 24-year-old righty has two saves to go along with a pedestrian 5.12 ERA across 19 1/3 innings (21 appearances) this season.