I'm betting on two scrappy NL East teams for my MLB expert picks on Wednesday.
Sure, the Phillies are kind of running away with the division, but the Mets and Braves are still making some noise. Featuring those two NL East squads, here are my MLB expert picks for June 26th:
MLB Expert Picks: June 26th, 2024
You can jump directly to today's picks here:
Pick 1: Braves (-132) vs Cardinals
Matchup Preview - Game Time: 1:46 pm ET
When Ronald Acuna Jr. went down for the year, I kind of forgot about the Braves. But, they're playing pretty good baseball these days. Atlanta is 7-3 in the last 10 games, winning the last three series they've played in.
That success has come on the back of pitching. In the last two weeks, the Braves have the second-best team ERA in baseball (3.19). They should have that pitching edge again tonight. Atlanta's Reynaldo Lopez hasn't allowed more than two earned runs in any of his last eight starts, posting a 1.57 ERA on the season.
St. Louis' Kyle Gibson, on the other hand, gets rocked by current Braves bats. In 104 at-bats, Atlanta hitters have a .346 average and 1.107 OPS against Gibson, hitting 17 extra-base hits.
Guys like Matt Olson (1.462 OPS) and Austin Riley (.900 OPS) have really taken Gibson to town in the past.
Pick 2: Mets (+120) vs Yankees
Matchup Preview - Game Time: 7:11 pm ET
This one's kind of a Mets vibe check.
The Mets have won 10 of their last 12 games, taking the first game against New York and Gerrit Cole last night. The Yankees, on the other hand, are 3-7 in their last 10 and falling fast.
This is also a bit of a bet on the pitching. Sure, New York's Luis Gil has a pristine 2.77 ERA this season, but he also just got absolutely rocked last time out. Gil allowed seven earned runs in just 1.1 innings pitched last time out, easily his worst MLB start. On the other hand, Mets SP Sean Manaea could be in for a good start. The Yankees have the 16th-ranked OPS against left-handed pitching this year and hit just .235 as a team against southpaws.
The one thing that scares me is Aaron Judge has no problem with Manaea. The Bronx Bomber has a .417 average and 1.417 OPS in 12 career at-bats against Manaea.
