Who doesn’t love an underdog?
Betting on an underdog is the easiest way to get the most bang for your buck with a single wager, yet it’s always a somewhat risky endeavor. I mean, they’re underdogs for a reason, right? Still, there’s no sport where the underdog comes through more often than in baseball. It’s a 162-game season. Even the best teams are going to lose about 60 times a year.
With that in mind, here are my favourite dogs to back on Monday night — all at plus-money — on the DraftKings Sportsbook.
Best MLB Underdog Bets, Picks on DraftKings Sportsbook
Nationals ML (+127)
The headliner here is Cade Cavalli, who looked very impressive last week in his first MLB start since 2022. The former top prospect lost a couple seasons due to injury, but he didn’t look rusty on Wednesday against the Athletics, registering 19 whiffs on 88 pitches and touching 100.1 mph with his fastball. Cavalli only went 4.1 innings that evening, yet he didn’t allow a run and he struck out six. As I said, it was an outing that really opened some eyes. Bailey Falter is a completely different archetype of pitcher, and in his most recent start, the soft-tossing lefty surrendered seven earned runs at Fenway Park. That raised Falter’s season-long FIP to 4.95. The Nationals don’t have nearly as potent a lineup as the Red Sox, but any way you slice it, Washington does have the advantage on the mound. In a matchup with a Royals team that’s middling at best, that’s enough of an advantage to be considered on the moneyline.
Twins ML (+151)
I’m not going to sit here and suggest that the Twins aren’t underdogs for a reason on Monday. After the team’s fire sale at the deadline, there’s not a lot of depth in this lineup or this bullpen. However, aside from the continued breakout of Luke Keaschall, there’s some reason for optimism. First and foremost, Byron Buxton (rib) and his 145 wRC+ are expected to return from the IL this evening. Secondly, there’s a case to be made that Zebby Matthews is legit. The 25-year-old’s ERA is inflated due to a .375 BABIP and a 65.4% strand rate, but don’t be fooled. Matthews is pitching far closer to his 2.74 FIP, thanks primarily to a 28.9% strikeout rate and a 4.80 K/BB ratio. It’s also not like the Yankees are in a groove at the moment. New York has dropped seven of its nine games in August and owns an AL-low .208 batting average over the past two weeks.
White Sox ML (+122)
You’d be excused for not paying much attention to the White Sox at this point in the season, yet the team is downright watchable since calling up some notable prospects over the past two months. Colson Montgomery, Kyle Teel, Grant Taylor… Dare I say it, but Chicago is suddenly sort of fun. The White Sox are really swinging the bats over the last 30 days, a span of time where the club’s 116 wRC+ ranks as the fourth-highest mark in MLB. They’ll likely need a couple crooked numbers on Monday with Elvis Peguero opening what appears to be a bullpen game, though it’s not like I have all that much faith in Detroit’s pitching plan, either. Chris Paddack will make his third start in a Tigers’ uniform this evening, on the heels of giving up four runs and not managing a single strikeout against the aforementioned zombie Twins last week. For the season as a whole, Paddack owns a 4.91 ERA and a career-low 17.3% strikeout rate. Not ideal.
