MLB Betting Picks (8/16/2020) - Moneylines, Totals, and Runlines

August 16, 2020

Tom Bellucco recommends betting picks for the MLB slate on 8/16/2020. He breaks down each team's situation and suggests the top picks on moneylines, totals, runlines, and more!

Welcome back, RotoBallers! We had a positive Saturday as far as record goes, but losing the 2-unit Padres bet put us slightly negative in units for the day. Regardless, it still felt like a solid night for the process, and I'm confident in my dissection of these matchups moving forward. Let's get back in the win column in a big way on Sunday!

As I'm sure you already know know, Steve Janik and I will be sharing the duties of writing up an MLB Betting article every day of the week! All season long we'll be supplying you MLB betting articles with a few of our favorite picks for the day in baseball. Along with the picks, we'll give a little write-up with some supporting evidence for the picks, and we'll keep track of our records throughout the course of the season. You can always find my updated picks for the day as well as my running tally @BellRoto on Twitter. I'll also do my best to continue posting my picks there on my "Off Days" for this series.

• Saturday, August 15: 3-2
• 2020 Season Total: 47-35

Without further ado, let's get to the picks for today's slate. Please make sure to follow me on Twitter @BellRoto, as I'll post any updates and/or additions to these picks there throughout the day. I'll also field any questions or comments on Twitter as well as in our Premium RotoBaller Slack Chat under the Sports Betting channel. Here we go!

New York Mets at Philadelphia Phillies (-137)

O/U: 9.5

NYM: Rick Porcello, PHI: Zack Wheeler

The Phillies loaded lineup gets to face the contact-heavy Rick Porcello, who has already shown that he's prone to crooked numbers so far this year. Meanwhile, one of the more aggressive, velocity-driven starters in Zack Wheeler has a good chance of mowing down a depleted Mets lineup that lacked run support for him back in the day. I think this number moves up above -150 before first pitch, so I'm going to jump on with two units now before the move happens! I also wouldn't mind a -1.5 line if the ML gets too high.

Pick: Phillies ML (-137) 2 Units

Cleveland Indians (-136) at Detroit Tigers

O/U: 9

CLE: Andrew Plutko, DET: Michael Fulmer

While Plutko isn't a regular, consistent option for the Indians' rotation, he's shown us in the past he's more than serviceable. Especially against a less potent team in a great pitcher's park. Meanwhile, Fulmer's velocity did look better last outing, but he's still limited to around three innings. Even if those innings go scoreless, I'll take the Indians second and third turn in the order against the Tigers' long relievers. This is another line that I think should be higher despite the absence of starter Mike Clevinger. Give me the better offense who shouldn't falter too much on pitching either.

Pick: Indians ML (-136) 1 Unit

Seattle Mariners at Houston Astros (-245)

O/U: 9.5

SEA: Justus Sheffield, HOU: Lance McCullers

Sheffield did look better his last time out, but it's going to tough for him to maintain those gains against one of the deepest lineups in the league. Meanwhile, McCullers gets to see another soft lineup coming off his seven-inning gem against San Francisco. The line is massive, but we can get an intriguing edge if we give up a run and a half to the Mariners. Game 1 was a big blowout, and then Game 2 on Saturday was down to the wire. I expect the Astros bats get hot again and take advantage of some possible command hiccups by Sheffield. Let's take Houston by a few runs!

Pick: Astros -1.5 (-121) 1 Unit

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