Top MLB Parlay Odds & Picks for Saturday May 21 (2022)

May 21, 2022 - 1:06 PM

We have some exciting games for you this Saturday. There are quite a few teams to talk about as they come in with playoff hopes, including a divisional matchup where the teams are separated by just one loss. These games matter early in this season, and you want to gain the advantage over someone in your division.

Chicago White Sox (+190)  vs. New York Yankees (230) O/U 9

(First Pitch 1:06 p.m. ET)

Both the Yankees and the White Sox get an extra day of rest as Friday night’s game was postponed due to the weather. This means they will play a doubleheader on Sunday.

The Yankees are coming into this series as one of the hottest teams in baseball by winning 14 of their last 18 games at home and 9 of 11 overall. They are playing well on both sides of the ball as their offense is leading the league in wOBA (.332) and hard-hit percentage (46.9), and the pitching has the best ERA (2.74) and third in WHIP (1.111).

Nestor Cortez continues to be the best pitcher in this rotation. You know he will come in,  strike out batters, and put you in a position to win. He’s looking like a very early Cy Young contender as he’s second in the AL in WHIP (0.85), strikeouts per win (11.0), and first in ERA (1.35). His last start was also against the White Sox, where he pitched a career-high eight innings, allowing one earned on three hits. He was working that cutter and fastball so well, and while those pitches don’t overpower you, the movement gets hitters off balance.

It looked like the White Sox were getting better before their series last week against the Yankees. They came into that series having won 7-of-8, and the offense was improving, but they hit the skids when the Yanks came to town, and now they’ve lost five out of their last eight.

Dallas Keuchel will get the start, and while you look at the 5.54 ERA, you immediately want to fade him; however, that’s grossly stemming from one start where he allowed seven earned in one inning. In his other starts, he’s pitched 25 innings and has allowed just nine earned runs. He pitched well in his last start against the Yankees with five shutout innings in the 3-2 win.

While Keuchel is pitching well, Cortez has monumentally better The Yankees also hit well against lefties at home and are tied for the first with eight home runs and second in slugging at .475. Their little league field plays well to their strengths, and they have the better supporting bullpen.

Leg 1: Yankees ML

San Diego Padres (+130) vs. San Francisco Giants (-154) O/U 7

(First Pitch 4:06 p.m. ET)

After a very disappointing 2021, the Padres are starting this season off playing well even without Fernando Tatis Jr. Manny Machado has been holding this offense down as he leads the National League in average (.335), on-base percentage (.432),  and WAR (2.8). Eric Hosmer is having the best start of his career in San Diego as he is second in the NL with a .336 average, and his 1.4 WAR has already eclipsed his personal best with the Padres.

Joe Musgrove has been their best starting pitcher as he leads this team with a 2.20 ERA and a 0.933 WHIP. He comes in with seven-straight quality starts to begin the season, but all of those were against teams that are 17th or lower in runs scored per game, and the Giants are second this season with 5.11.

The Giants have been an efficient offense all season as they’re second in runs per game (5.11) and fifth in wOBA (.323). No one in the lineup has been hitting notably well, but the plate discipline has been the key as their second in walks per game (3.89), third in zone percentage (49.7%), and chase percentage (25.7%). They make pitchers work, and they’ll try to bounce Musgrove early in this game.

The Giants will start Carlos Rodon is coming off a very rough start where he only lasted 3.2 innings and tied a career-high eight earned runs. Leading up to that, his four-seamer has been electric, and he’s been able to pinpoint that backdoor slider to right-handers.

The Padres have hit well against left-handers this season as their fifth in slugging (.415), wOBA (.329), and while Rodon’s 13.0 strikeouts per nine are second in the league but the Padres are a well-disciplined team also with the second-best walk-rate (10.8%) and ninth in strikeout rate (21.4%).

This is a game where we will see runs scored on both sides as these lineups will have plenty of chances with runners in scoring position.

Leg 2: Over 7

Seattle Mariners (+136) vs. Boston Red Sox (-162) O/U 9

(First Pitch 4:11 p.m. ET)

It’s been a rough year for the Red Sox as they finally won their first series last week in over a month. The offense has struggled, but it’s starting to show signs of life as they’ve scored five or more runs in seven of their last ten games. Trevor Story looks like he’s getting into a groove as he’s bumped up his average by 34 points and added 13 RBIs over the previous ten games.

They’ll start Garrett Whitlock, who has pitched well since moving into the starting rotation with a 3.15 ERA, .189 opponent batting average, and a .239 BABIP. He does a fantastic job getting ahead with that sinker, then pulls the string with changeup and slider and does well at keeping them down, and that’s why he leads the rotation with 11.2 strikeouts per nine.

The Mariners’ problem this season has been a lack of consistency. Early in the year, they strung along a couple of winning streaks but then would lose a bunch of games. In fact, at just 40 games in, they already have three separate four-game losing streaks. They hit no problem getting hits, but the power isn’t there as their 25th in hard-hit percentage (36.1) and 27th in exit velocity (87.4).

The pitching was supposed to be a high point for this team, especially with the signing of the reigning AL Cy Young winner Robbie Ray, but he’s struggling along with the entire staff as they’re 23rd in ERA (4.05).

Chris Flexen’s 1-6 record is a mixture of lousy pitching but no run support. The 4.35 ERA stems from a bad outing allowing six earned in five innings, BUT other than that, he’s not allowed more than three earned in any start. Unfortunately, the Mariners have scored just three runs in his six losses, including four shutouts, he’s pitching well, but his offense is failing him.

These lineups have very little history with either of these pitchers, which always gives them the edge. Whitlock is pitching well and should shut down this struggling Seattle lineup, and Flexen should keep it close. While the under nine would be a solid play, there’s more confidence in a Red Sox win with their better lineup right now.

Leg 3: Red Sox ML

Total parlay odds on FanDuel: +346

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