It’s a long season so there’s no reason to be concerned over a poor showing on my opening day MLB parlay picks. My four-wager ticket had one correct pick and as we know by now every wager on a parlay has to hit in order to win. Oh well, that’s why sportsbooks are in business. It’s not always easy to gauge teams at the start of the season with so many variables in play. And results from spring training are worthless since those games mean nothing. Now that we have a full week of play in our system and teams are starting the second trip through the rotation we’re hoping for better results.
Most believe pitchers have an advantage early in the season and while that’s the case in some instances we saw eight of the 15 games on opening day go over the total. New rules had an impact with the shift limiting defenses, fewer pickoff attempts allowing for stolen bases and the pitch clock speeding up games. The jury is still out on how those rules will impact the game in the long run, but for now the games are shorter with a majority seeing plenty of runs scored. Without further ado let’s see if we can get in the win column with MLB parlay picks for April 5.
Parlay #1 – Totals
Pittsburgh / Boston OVER
LA Angels / Seattle UNDER
I thought I’d change things up a bit doing two separate parlays with one featuring game totals and the other a moneyline / runline ticket. Maybe I’ll have better results. Besides, with plenty of runs being scored across the bigs betting the total is becoming increasing popular. You can’t complain about Boston’s offense after the first weekend of the season. The Sox scored nine runs in each of their first three games and tacked on six in the opener against the Buccos. Ooops, pitching is once again a major problem, though, with the team splitting those four games because the staff surrendered a total of 30 runs in those games cashing the OVER each time.
The Halos trot Shohei Ohtani to the bump in the series finale against the Mariners in what should be another solid outing. Finishing fourth in AL Cy Young voting last year, Ohtani opened 2023 with an electric outing against the A’s allowing just two hits with 10 Ks in six scoreless frames. Seattle’s offense hasn’t got untracked yet and struggles at the dish against one of the best hurlers is an encouraging sign that backing the UNDER is a smart play. A $100 wager on this two-team total parlay results in a payout of roughly $266.
Parlay #2 – ML / RL
Tampa Bay RL
ChiCubs ML
Houston RL
Taking a team against the spread, referred to as the runline in MLB, is a way to help with the odds when backing a favorite. It just so happens that Tampa is favored against a Washington club most expect to struggle. The Rays are off to a good start winning their first four games by a combined score of 27-5 while going 4-0 ATS. I’m not sure the Nats have enough to get after Shane McClanahan, who tossed six shutout innings in the opener, and Tampa’s relentless offense should get us a cover.
I thought about putting this game in parlay #1 since Cincy’s home yard has yielded plenty of runs over the years. The reason it does is because the Reds’ pitching staff is shaky. The Cubs added some sticks in the offseason to improve the offense and they’ll likely play a lot of games like the series opener, which the Reds won 7-6. Marcus Stroman is undoubtedly the ace of the staff doing enough to limit Cincy’s offense while his mates score enough runs for the victory.
It’s been a bit of a slow start for the defending champs dropping three of their first five games. One of Houston’s wins came with Wednesday’s probable Cristian Javier on the mound and he’s been one of the most dominant hurlers in the game. The Tigers scored a total of three runs while getting swept by Tampa in the previous series and the offense lacks punch allowing Javier and the Astros to make the opening homestand a success. With a $100 risk parlay #2 would yield a payout of close to $596.
