While there’s a shocking amount of baseball happening today for a Thursday, this article will be focusing on the night slate, with five contests getting going past 6:40 p.m ET. But don’t fret. Even with only five games, there’s still hundreds of bets that you can make on the DraftKings Sportsbook.
Here are my top two MLB picks for the evening’s action on the diamond.
New York Mets at Atlanta Braves
Under 9 (-122)
Though these two lineups certainly have the potential to be two of the best in baseball, I’m banking on a pitchers’ duel tonight in Atlanta. Let’s start with Spencer Strider, who is directly on the heels of a very encouraging performance. Strider lost his first five starts of 2025, but pitched marvellously this past Saturday. Yes, it was against the lowly Rockies away from Coors Field, yet that doesn’t change the fact that Strider struck out 13 batters and walked only one across six scoreless innings. Most importantly, Strider’s average fastball velocity was up almost a full tick in that outing, sitting at 96.2 mph and maxing out at 98.1 mph. That’s the type of positive sign that hints that the prime version of Strider might not be too far away. It also doesn’t hurt racked up a hilarious 24 whiffs on his 87 pitches.
On the other side of the matchup, we find Clay Holmes, who has been everything the Mets could have hoped for when they decided to transition the former closer back to the rotation. Holmes owns a sterling 2.87 ERA in his 14 starts this season, and while his FIP and xERA are about a run higher, the right-hander has held opponents to a single earned run or fewer in more than half his outings. He’s solid. His elite ability to induce ground balls and suppress opponent barrel rate is a plus, too. He should be able to keep the Braves mostly in-check tonight, as Atlanta’s struggled to just an 89 wRC+ so far in June.
Houston Astros at Athletics
Astros -1.5 (+113)
If you’re looking for a parlay piece, the play here would simply be to back the Astros on the moneyline, but I’m hunting a little more juice with the run line. The logic is pretty simple. The Athletics have been in a free-fall since the beginning of May and they’ve lost the last two games of this series by a combined score of 24-7. In general, the team’s pitching staff is awful. Tonight’s starter, Jacob Lopez, has split his time between the majors and Triple-A so far this season, and he’s in possession of a career 4.78 ERA in the big leagues. Following him will be an Athletics’ bullpen that owns a MLB-worst 6.13 ERA. Yuck.
Let’s get back to Lopez, though. The 27-year-old is left-handed. That’s important. Houston hasn’t had the pleasure of facing many LHPs in 2025, but it takes advantage of its opportunities. The Astros have maintained an eye-popping .365 wOBA and 139 wRC+ within the split — both representing the best marks in MLB. That’s one of those trends that passes the smell test, too. With Yordan Alvarez still on the IL, every every-day position player on Houston’s roster — including the switch-hitting Victor Caratini — bats right-handed. It’s just a bad matchup for southpaws and the Astros should have little issue scoring on Thursday night.
