3 MLB Best Bets for Friday 5/24/24

Baseball has you covered if you want a large inventory of options to bet.

From moneylines to run totals to first-five-inning wagers, we have plenty of ways to bet the long, arduous MLB schedule daily. Outlooks can be vastly different due to starting pitchers, and a wealth of advanced stats can let us know if an individual pitcher, a bullpen, or a team is due for positive -- or negative -- regression.

Using numberFire's projections as a guide, which MLB odds from FanDuel Sportsbook are most appealing today?

Note: Lines are subject to change throughout the day after this article is published. All stats come from FanGraphs and Baseball Savant unless noted otherwise. Please check here to make sure you're seeing the most updated projections.

MLB Betting Picks

Chicago Cubs at St. Louis Cardinals, 8:15 p.m. ET

Cardinals Under 3.5 Runs (-128)

Shota Imanaga is set to take the mound for the Chicago Cubs, so it could be an uneventful night for the St. Louis Cardinals bats.

Imanaga has been unreal in his first MLB campaign. Through nine starts, he holds a 0.84 ERA (best), 0.91 WHIP (fifth-best), 0.50 HR/9 (eighth-best), and a 4.3% walk rate (ninth-best).

He's a frontrunner to take home this season's NL Cy Young Award (+480 odds; second-shortest) and should have an easy time in his first-ever matchup against the Cardinals.

St. Louis has been downright terrible against lefties. Coming into the night, they sport a .205 BA (29th), .320 SLG (29th), 77 wRC+ (27th), and .115 ISO (26th) versus left-handed pitchers.

They're only scoring 3.86 runs (fifth-fewest) and hitting 0.86 home runs (sixth-fewest) per game.

I'd expect Imanaga, who has gone for six scoreless outings and has yet to let up more than two runs in one game, to sail through this matchup.

Past him, the likes of Mark Leiter Jr. (0.90 ERA) and Hector Neris (2.50 ERA) should be able to take care of business.

The Cubs have given up under 3.5 runs in all nine of Imanaga's starts. In fact, they've let up under 2.5 runs in eight out of nine of these contests, surrendering an average of 1.1 runs when Imanaga leads the charge. I'd consider backing Cardinals Under 2.5 Runs (+154), too.

Cleveland Guardians at Los Angeles Angels, 9:38 p.m. ET

Over 7.5 Runs (-115)

We could see the Cleveland Guardians (33-17) and Los Angeles Angels (20-30) trading runs tonight.

Logan Allen will be on the bump for Cleveland. His 4.91 ERA, 4.44 xERA, 4.17 xFIP, and 1.58 HR/9 draw room for concern, and though the Angels might not appear to be an intimidating matchup, they have legit numbers against lefties.

Coming into the night, the Angels own a .275 BA (third-best), .437 SLG (sixth-best), 117 wRC+ (seventh-best), and 20.3% K% (ninth-lowest) against left-handed pitchers.

Los Angeles is averaging 4.38 runs per game (15th), and a date with a vulnerable lefty could help them come alive.

Patrick Sandoval is set to throw opposite the Guardians. He owns a 4.59 ERA, 3.61 xERA, and 3.68 xFIP through 10 starts.

While Sandoval (0.53 HR/9) is skilled at keeping balls within the park, he does sport a 1.47 WHIP and allows a .270 BA. Cleveland, meanwhile, comes in with a .332 wOBA (seventh-best), .443 SLG (third-best), and 119 wRC+ (sixth-best) versus left-handed pitchers.

Jose Ramirez and David Fry are in for solid matchups against Sandoval. The Guardians are generating 4.88 runs per game (fifth-most), so I'm keen on targeting the over for a matchup that numberFire's projections expect to garner 8.63 total runs.

New York Yankees at San Diego Padres, 9:40 p.m. ET

Under 7.5 Runs (-114)

The New York Yankees and San Diego Padres will clash for an exciting pitching battle tonight.

Carlos Rodon will make his 11th start of the season for New York. While he sports a 3.27 ERA and 23.5% K%, his underlying numbers are a bit less pretty, including a 4.90 xERA and 4.32 xFIP.

Even still, we've seen Rodon get rocked in just 1 of his 10 starts (Baltimore Orioles; 6 ER), allowing three runs or fewer in all other outings.

He should fare well against a Padres team that is producing a .217 BA (27th), .338 SLG (25th), .280 wOBA (25th), and 85 wRC+ (25th) opposite left-handed pitchers. It doesn't hurt that New York's bullpen has shown top marks, particularly a 2.89 ERA (second-best) and 1.16 WHIP (third-best).

Yu Darvish, San Diego's starter for the night, has been lethal as of late. He hasn't allowed a run in four straight starts, and his stat line in this span includes 24 IP, 0 ER, 10 H, 3 BB, and 24 Ks.

Though he'll have to go up against one of the toughest lineups in baseball, Darvish's 2.08 ERA, 2.81 xERA, 24.9% K%, and 0.38 HR/9 ratio are inspiring. The Yanks are skilled at generating power against righties, but so are the Los Angeles Dodgers and Atlanta Braves -- two teams that have been shut out by Darvish in back-to-back games.

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The above author is a FanDuel employee and is not eligible to compete in public daily fantasy contests or place sports betting wagers on FanDuel. The advice provided by the author does not necessarily represent the views of FanDuel. Taking the author's advice will not guarantee a successful outcome. You should use your own judgment when participating in daily fantasy contests or placing sports wagers.