Free MLB Picks Today for Friday, August 25th, 2023

Our free MLB picks are out for Friday, August 25th, 2023! Make sure you check our MLB picks before the action kicks off.

Look below to find our free MLB picks for the five best games on today’s schedule!

Chicago Cubs @ Pittsburgh Pirates – 7:05PM ET

Tony Battalio

The Chicago Cubs have been playing great baseball as of late and they are closing in on the Milwaukee Brewers for first place in the National League Central division. If they can continue their solid stretch of play throughout the weekend against Pittsburgh, they could potentially surpass Milwaukee for the top spot in the division as well. Chicago has already picked up one victory over Pittsburgh during the course of the series as they got the win in extra innings during the opening game of their series on Thursday night. Chicago comes into the second game of this series looking to grab a win and secure at least a split of this four game series before heading into the weekend. 

Pittsburgh comes into this game looking to rebound from their close loss to Chicago in the opening game of their series on Thursday night at home. It has been a rough few months for Pittsburgh after they opened up the season as the best team in the National League throughout the first 30 games of the year. It has been all downhill since then, and they are well on their way to recording yet another losing season and missing out on the playoffs once again. Pittsburgh is currently on a one game losing streak, and they have lost six out of their last 10 games on the season. I don’t see them picking up a victory here on Friday night either as I look for Chicago to grab their second consecutive victory of the series.

St.Louis Cardinals @ Philadelphia Phillies – 7:05PM ET

Tony Battalio

It has been a rough season for the St. Louis Cardinals after they came into the year with expectations of winning the National League Central division. They have been nowhere close, and they have been one of the worst teams in all of Major League Baseball this season. St. Louis, as one of those franchise’s that hardly enters into a rebuilding period but it seems as if they have a long and lengthy rebuild ahead of them following this year’s season. The Cardinals come into this game sitting in last place of the National League Central division unless something changes quickly they will likely finish the regular season in the basement as well.

The Philadelphia Phillies had a slow start to the 2023 Major League Baseball season. It came as a shock to the people that expected them to once again contend for the National League pennant after they made a run to the World Series last year. However, as the year has gone on, they have certainly picked it up and they now find themselves occupying one of the top three wild card spots in the National League. They will be looking to continue their solid run of play in the opening game of the series against St. Louis on Friday night at home. That is exactly what I look for from Philadelphia as I have them picking up the victory in this game and grabbing some more momentum heading into the weekend.

Los Angeles Dodgers @ Boston Red Sox – 7:10PM ET

Tony Battalio

It has been a fantastic season for the Los Angeles Dodgers and they will be looking to keep the momentum rolling when their road trip continues at Fenway Park in Boston. They are coming off of a series against Cleveland where they took two out of three games and what was essentially a doubleheader on Thursday, after their game on Wednesday night was suspended due to inclement weather in the Cleveland area. Now, Los Angeles will be looking to pick up a victory in the opening game of the series against Boston here on Friday night as they look to extend their lead in the National League West division. Los Angeles comes into this game with a record of 77-48 through their first 125 games of the 2023 Major League Baseball season. 

It has been a solid season for the Boston Red Sox, but they haven’t gotten much attention from national media, because of the success of three of the other teams within their division. Despite being well out of the race for the American League East division title, at this point in the year, they were still well within striking distance of grabbing one of the three wild card spots in the American League this season. They are coming off of a successful series against the defending World Series champions, where they took two out of three games from the Houston Astros. They will be looking to continue their solid run of play against the Los Angeles Dodgers here on Friday night at Fenway Park. I expect Boston to grab the victory in this game on Friday night.

Los Angeles Angels @ New York  Mets – 7:10PM ET

Tony Battalio

It’s been an awful year for the Los Angeles Angels, and it has managed to get worse. After they announced that Shohei Ohtani will be shut down for the season on the mound. They now lose one of their best, starting pitchers and due to the severity of his injury, he will likely take a step back at the plate as well. Which will hurt him and the Angels performance as he looks to finish the season as the home run leader in Major League Baseball. Los Angeles is coming off of a rough series with the Cincinnati Reds and they will be looking to open up this series against the New York Mets on a more positive note here on Friday night.

It has been a rough season for the New York Mets this season as well. This New York Mets team also came into the season with plenty of expectations that they have not lived up to this year. Their mini fire sale at the trade deadline signal that they were closing the window on this period of being a competitive baseball team. It will likely be a couple more seasons, if not longer before they are a competitor to win a World Series or a National League pennant, or even a National League East division title, with the success of the Atlanta Braves and the Philadelphia Phillies. They will be looking to close out the season on a strong note, and I expect them to take a step in the right direction with a victory over the Los Angeles Angels in this game on Friday night at home.

Texas Rangers @ Minnesota Twins – 8:10PM ET

Tony Battalio

It’s been a fantastic season for the Texas Rangers, but they have been struggling as of late. They have now lost seven consecutive games and they are in danger of falling out of first place in the American League West division if they continue this less than successful losing streak. It looked as if they put their losing streak behind them in the opening game of their series against Minnesota on Thursday night before they gave up three runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to allow Minnesota to pick up the victory. Now Texas will be looking to rebound in the second game of the series here on Friday night as they once again look to snap their losing streak and get their season back on track.

Minnesota has had a decent season thus far and they are currently in first place of the American League Central division. They gained yet another game over Cleveland on Thursday night and they will be looking to do the same here on Friday night in the second game of their four game weekend series against the Texas Rangers. They used a furious comeback late in the game to grab a much-needed victory over Texas on Thursday night and now they will be looking to grab their second consecutive victory of the series to secure at least a split of this series before heading into the final two games of the weekend. Unfortunately for Minnesota I look for Texas to bounce back and pick up the victory to even up this series on Friday night. 

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*Odds and spreads correct at time of publication, courtesy of BetMGM.