Baseball Wagers for Today: Wagers, Predictions, and Selections for May 16 (MLB)

Interleague Weekend in MLBaseball, y'all! Here's the lowdown on the upcoming matchups for May 16.

We've got the Pirates vs. Phillies and Rockies vs. Diamondbacks in the NL, and Tigers vs. Blue Jays, plus the Astros vs. Rangers, all in the AL.

There's plenty of geographic rivalries going on this weekend, like the Ohio Cup between the Guardians and Reds, White Sox vs. Cubs, the I-70 Throwdown between the Cardinals and Royals, the Beltway Battle between the Nationals and Orioles, the I-5 Clash between the Angels and Dodgers, and the Subway Series between Mets and Yankees with Juan Soto back in the Bronx.

Some top MLB resources you might find useful include:

Today's MLB games
Parlay calculator
Greg Peterson's MLB daily lines
MLB odds
MLB betting splits

The revamped article will run Monday-Saturday, with standalone previews for Sunday Night Baseball. This season, we'll also have MLB best bets from Greg Peterson posted with overnight lines.

Make sure to check out my tracking sheet here and for transparency's sake, I've also got tracking for my three MLB seasons at VSiN (2024, 2023, 2022).

Remember, it's always smart to shop around for the best lines instead of just sticking with DraftKings Sportsbook. Sometimes they'll have the best deals, but don't assume they always will.

Don't forget to leverage my opinions, as well as our suite of MLB betting tools like DraftKings and Circa Betting Splits, Steve Makinen's Daily Ratings, Greg Peterson's Daily Lines, the 1st 5 Innings Analyzer, and Umpire Stats to help you make informed decisions.

Cleveland Guardians (-120, 9) at Cincinnati Reds

NOTE:Game moved to a 5:10 p.m. ET start due to weather arriving this evening

The Ohio Lottery Ohio Cup kicks off with Game 1 featuring the Guardians and Reds. Tanner Bibee gets the nod for Cleveland, while Brady Singer takes the mound for the Reds.

While we're worried about weather affecting this game with a potential mid-game delay or shortened game, I'm more focused on the first 5 innings. The Guardians have a platoon advantage here with eight or nine left-handed bats against Singer, a righty who has historically struggled against lefties. Singer has a lower BA, wOBA, and wRC+ against lefties compared to righties. This season, Lefties have already hit .247/.316/.482 with a .345 wOBA, while righties have batted .250/.313/.382 with a .309 wOBA.

Meanwhile, Bibee seems to be figuring things out slowly but surely. Singer's also had command issues lately, and the Guardians have a 104 wRC+ compared to the Reds' 81 wRC+ over the last 14 days.

Pick: Guardians 1st 5 (-120)

Pittsburgh Pirates at Philadelphia Phillies (-238, 9)

6:45 p.m. ET

In the Commonwealth Clash, Andrew Heaney and Ranger Suarez square off. My focus here is on a player prop for Heaney. He's racked up 19 of his 36 strikeouts in two of his eight starts this season. He struck out 10 against the Yankees on April 6 and 9 against the Angels in his revenge game on April 23. In the three starts since, he's only picked up 5 strikeouts and issued 10 walks.

The Phillies have the fourth-highest Z-Contact% in the league, making them an aggressive team with pitches in the zone. Heaney's struggle with command has led to a dip in SwStr%, and now we're paying a bit of juice for this bet, but there's a chance for rain early in the game that might wipe out one or both starters.

Even if the rain holds off, Heaney's missed bats have been rare and the Phillies have some solid metrics in key areas. This might be a risky pick, but I think it's worth exploring.

Pick: Andrew Heaney (PIT) Under 4.5 Strikeouts (-130)

New York Mets at New York Yankees (-148, 9)

7:05 p.m. ET

Tylor Megill and Carlos Rodon kick off the Subway Series. Rain is expected to hover around first pitch and humidity will climb into the 85% range during the game. Both pitchers have solid numbers this season, but the Mets have shown they can swing the bats against lefties, ranking fourth in wOBA and wRC+ against LHP.

Rodon, however, will be faced with a stiff test against a Mets lineup that is fourth in wOBA and wRC+ against lefties. Rodon has a terribly low BABIP this season, but it's hard to expect that to continue against a potent Mets offense.

While the Yankees bullpen is in better shape following the off day, I'm expecting the Mets to give them some trouble.

Pick: Mets +124

Colorado Rockies at Arizona Diamondbacks (-425, 9)

9:40 p.m. ET

The Diamondbacks host the Rockies with Corbin Burnes on the mound. These teams have significantly different offensive performances against left-handed and right-handed pitchers, making this an interesting matchup. The Diamondbacks are second in wOBA and third in wRC+ against lefties, while the Rockies struggle mightily, ranking 27th in wOBA and wRC+ against lefties.

The Rockies are sending out Carson Palmquist, who's making his MLB debut. Palmquist is a left-hander with an unconventional delivery, which might cause some issues for the Diamondbacks. Diamondbacks hitters have struggled against lefties this season, with a wOBA of just .310 against southpaws.

No Run First Inning is an intriguing bet here at -110 as Palmquist could have some success early on due to the Diamondbacks' struggles against lefties and his unique delivery.

Pick: Rockies/Diamondbacks No Run First Inning (NRFI) (DK lists this as "Under 0.5 Runs") -110

Some additional picks worth considering:

Home Run Bets: Pete Alonso of the New York Mets at +340 on DraftKings. Even though his batting average is typically lower at Yankee Stadium, he's a power hitter and could make this bet worthwhile.
Philadelphia Phillies -1.5 over Pittsburgh Pirates (-130) - With the Phillies on a hot streak and the Pirates struggling, a bigger spread might be worth the gamble.

In the upcoming MLB games, the baseball matchup between the Pittsburgh Pirates and Philadelphia Phillies could see Andrew Heaney struggle with command, potentially leading to a low number of strikeouts. Additionally, sports enthusiasts looking to place bets on the first 5 innings of the Cleveland Guardians vs. Cincinnati Reds game might find an opportunity with the Guardians exploiting a platoon advantage against Reds starter Brady Singer.