Best Bets for Friday’s MLB slate!

At The Corners has a Bets Bets record of 20-11 this season. Hope to keep that going with five plays today!

Miami Marlins at Chicago Cubs (2:20 PM ET)

There’s no doubt about it, the Cubs struggled during their road trip in the last week. The Nats won 3 of 4 against them, and the Marlins swept them in Miami last weekend. One of those games saw Miami score three runs and collect seven hits against their ace, Justin Steele. But the Cubs return home to Wrigley today. And Steele will again put his 1.49 ERA up against the Marlins. His xFIP (3.96, ranked 45th in MLB) suggests a tiny bit of negative regression this season, but I’m not expecting that to happen today against this inconsistent Marlins' lineup. I mean, it would be difficult to argue that the Marlins are a powerhouse on offense, ranked as they are in the bottom third of baseball in both wRC+ (90) and wOBA (.302).

On the other side of the card, the Marlins will put Edward Cabrera on the mound against a very solid Cubs offense— ranked 7th in wRC+ (112) and 6th in wOBA (.339). Cabrera tends to strike out a lot of batters, but control is an issue and he walks of batters a lot too. His K-BB% is extraordinarily low at 8.7% (ranked 105th in baseball), and I think this smart Cubs offense, in the friendly confines of Wrigley, will likely go to lunch on Cabrera. Add to that a Marlins bullpen that ranks near the bottom in just about every advanced pitching category, and I see a Cubs cover here.

Bet the CUBS -1.5 run line (+110)

Chicago White Sox at Cincinnati Reds (6:35 PM ET)

Bet the REDS to win money line (-115)

New York Yankees at Tampa Bay Rays (6:40 PM ET)

Bet the RAYS -1.5 run line (+115)

Minnesota Twins vs. Cleveland Guardians (7:10 PM ET)

Bet the game TOTAL under 8.5 runs (-115)

Boston Red Sox at Philadelphia Phillies (7:05 PM ET)

Bet the PHILLIES F5 (first 5 innings) -0.5 run line (-110)