MLB Best Bets: Saturday, April 16th

Today's slate of MLB games is huge. I'm here to walk you through some of the best bets.

To sports bettors, Saturday is where we find the most action to bet on. With MLB, NBA, UFC, and NHL all going on today, there are plenty of games to find some action on. Let's break down my three favorite bets in the MLB today.

Bet #1: Washington Nationals ML (-105)

For those who will be following my picks in these articles, get used to seeing me bet against the Pirates on a daily basis. The Pittsburgh Pirates have been one of the worst teams in the MLB for the last seven seasons. They have seen only one winning season in that span. Baseball is a sport where teams with bigger markets load up their teams with stars, while smaller market teams are forced to build through the draft and their prospect development.

"Put a #CurlyW in the books! #Jackie42" - @ Washington Nationals

The Washington Nationals are coming off a 7-2 win against the Pirates last night where they controlled the game throughout. Tonight, Josh Rodgers gets the start for the Nats. He had a great first start on the year, holding the defending champion Atlanta Braves to one run in five innings of work. The Pirates, on the other hand, will start Bryse Wilson, who had a rough time against the Cardinals in his first start. Give me the Nationals to take care of business today.

Bet #2: Giants/Guardians No Run First Inning -135

I'm a firm believer in the saying, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." Both of these teams have been cashing in on their NRFIs (No Run First Inning) very consistently this season. While Cleveland does rank third in the MLB in first-inning runs so far, the numbers are a bit inflated by one game where they saw six runs in the opening frame. The Cleveland Guardians haven't scored a first-inning run in three games. I see that continuing tonight with Anthony DeSclafani on the mound for the Giants. The San Francisco Giants haven't scored a first-inning run while playing on the road this season, and they find themselves playing in Cleveland, Ohio, tonight.

Bet #3: Phillies Team Total over 3.5 -130

"@bryson_stott10 gets us on the board" - @ Philadelphia Phillies

The Philadelphia Phillies will take on the Miami Marlins today in the third game of their four-game series. The Phillies are coming in on a four-game losing streak, seeing two of their stars, Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber, both hitting below .200 on the season. One thing I have realized about the Phillies so far this year: Their defense and bullpen are atrocious. If you want to be successful in the MLB, your team has to have the ability to get big performances from bullpen pitchers, and that's something the Phillies don't have quite yet.

The offense has the potential to put up over five runs a game this season with the talent they have in the lineup, but, as the great Bear Bryant said, "Offense sells tickets, but defense wins championships." From top to bottom, the Phillies have one of the most talented lineups in the MLB, but they have struggled as of late to put up runs. This is a great matchup for the Phillies with Elieser Hernandez starting on the mound for Miami tonight. Hernandez struggled against the Angels lineup in his first start of the year, giving up four earned runs in four innings of work. While I do think the Phillies will win this game, I don't trust the bullpen enough to take their moneyline; so, we're going to take that factor out of our bet and take the Phillies offense to score four+ runs.