Free MLB Picks Today for Thursday, August 25th, 2022

Our free MLB picks are out for Thursday, August 25th, 2022! 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!

St.Louis Cardinals @ Chicago Cubs – 2:20PM ET

The St.Louis Cardinals and Chicago Cubs will be playing the fifth and final game of their five game series in this one. The Cardinals picked up the win in game one and game three. While the Cubs got the win in game two. In game four the Cubs got another win to even up the series. 

Tony Battalio

The St.Louis Cardinals are coming into this game after losing game four of their series to their National League Central division rivals, the Chicago Cubs. Now the fifth and final game of the series will determine who wins the series. They come into this game with a record of 71-53 through their first 124 games of the 2022 Major League Baseball season. They have won eight out of their last ten games on the season but will come into this game on a one game losing streak. They currently hold a five and a half lead over the Milwaukee Brewers in the National League Central. 

The Chicago Cubs are coming into this game with a record of 54-70 through their first 124 games of the 2022 Major League Baseball season. They come into this game having won seven out of their last ten games on the year. They are in third place of the National League Central as they are seventeen games out of first place. They are currently on a one game winning streak as they will look to win this series on Thursday afternoon, 

Kyler Wolff

In what will be the last of a rare five game series for the Cardinals and Cubs, the Cardinals are looking to assert themselves as the clear favorite in the NL Central with a win today. They are currently 5.5 games ahead of the Brewers in the division and are looking to capitalize on this matchup with a clearly weaker Cubs team. The Cardinals have two legitimate MVP candidates in Nolan Arenado (.301/.366/.559) and Paul Goldschmidt (.335/.417/.622) who have a combined home run total of 57 and a combined RBI total of 182 that is the core of an offense that ranks eighth and fourth in each of those respective categories in the entire league. The Cardinals clearly have the offensive edge over their opponents, but it won’t be a complete cake walk for them today as they go up against Chicago’s Ace, Marcus Stroman.

While the Cubs aren’t complete liabilities when it comes to batting, (14th in the MLB in OPS) it is clear that in this game they will need to rely on Stroman putting up a great game in order for them to have any real shot at winning. In order for Stroman to do that he would have to put up a game similar to what he did in his last appearance when the Cubs beat the Brewers in extras on August 20th. In that one, Stroman pitched a solid 7.2 inning giving up only two earned runs and six base runners with five strikeouts mixed in. Other than that performance, Stroman’s last five appearances have just been average, leading to only one other win among those five games for the Cubs. With all that being said, the one number that scares me off betting on Stroman putting up a good performance, and thus giving the Cubs a chance to win is 6.62. That is Marcus Stroman’s ERA while pitching at home. That’s not really encouraging.

Cleveland Guardians @ Seattle Mariners – 4:10PM ET

The Cleveland Guardians and Seattle Mariners will be playing the first game of their four game weekend series in this one. This is the first of two times that these two American League teams will meet this season. As they will play in a three game series next week in Cleveland as well. 

Tony Battalio

The Cleveland Guardians are coming into this game after a two game sweep of the San Diego Padres. They come into this game with a record of 66-56 through their first 122 games of the 2022 Major League Baseball season. They have won six out of their last ten games on the season and come into this game on a two game winning streak. They currently have a four game lead in the American League Central division at the moment. 

The Seattle Mariners are coming into this game with a record of 67-57 through their first 124 games of the 2022 Major League Baseball season. They have won five out of their last ten games on the year. However, they come into game one of this series on a one game losing streak. They are currently in second place of the American League West division as they are 12 and a half games back of first place. They currently hold onto the third wild card spot in the American League.  

Kyler Wolff

Two evenly matched teams matchup as the Guardians (66-56) go to Seattle to play the Mariners (67-57) in what will be a hotly contested first game of a four game series. The Guardians will have young right hander Triston McKenzie starting on the mound for them, hoping to stifle a Mariners offense that ranks 12th in the league OPS and home runs this year. It should be doable for McKenzie who has a really solid ERA of 3.11 and a whip of under one. McKenzie also gets a fair amount of strikeouts with 138 on the year which ties for 22nd among all pitchers in the MLB, this should come into play against a Mariners team that ranks 14th for most strikeouts by their batters.

The Mariners will need to rely on their offense being able to hit off of Triston McKenzie, as they won’t have one of their top pitchers in today. They will be starting Marco Gonzalez, who isn’t a terrible pitcher, he certainly isn’t the guy they would want to have in such a critical matchup up against such a capable pitcher in McKenzie. Gonzalez has posted a 4.08 ERA and a 1.41 whip so far this season, in what has resulted in an 8-12 record for the veteran lefty. The Mariners will need to put up big offensive numbers today in order to pull out a win and none of their previous few games leads me to believe that they will.

Cincinnati Reds @  Philadelphia Phillies – 7:05PM ET

The Cincinnati Reds and Philadelphia Phillies will be playing the fourth and final game of their four game series in this one. The Philadelphia Phillies got the win in game one and game two. In game three the Phillies clinched the series and will be looking to complete the sweep. 

Tony Battalio

The Cincinnati Reds are coming into this game looking to avoid getting swept in this four game series. They are in the middle of a terrible season and come into this game with a record of 48-74 through their first 122 games of the 2022 Major League Baseball season. They have lost six out of their last ten games on the season and come into this game on a three game losing streak. They are currently in fourth place of the National League Central division at the moment as they are 22 games out of first place. 

The Philadelphia Phillies are coming into this game with a record of 69-55 through their first 124 games of the 2022 Major League Baseball season. They are nine and a half games out of first place in the National League East division. They have picked up six victories in their last ten games and come into this game on a three game winning streak at the moment. I have them winning the fourth and final game of this series and completing the sweep over the Cincinnati Reds. 

Kyler Wolff

The Phillies are looking for a four game sweep of the Reds at home and honestly, their chances look pretty good. It’s hard to beat a team four times in a row, but the Phillies have just about everything going for them today. With the game in Philadelphia, the Phillies have their hometown fans behind them, and more importantly, they have their ace on the mound. Aaron Nola will be starting for the Phillies, and despite his below average record of just 8-10, he is a very dominant pitcher, with an ERA of 3.25 and a whip that is tied for fourth best in the league at 0.96. The Reds will have really hard time getting on base today, even with the Phillies subpar defense.

As for the Reds, they aren’t getting any help from their pitching, with the scheduled starter, Justin Dunn, really struggling in his first and only three appearances this year. He has posted an ERA of over 6 over those three appearances in 13.1 innings, and will likely force the Reds into their bullpen fairly early. All in all, I don’t like the Reds chances with their lethargic bats and underwhelming pitching against a Phillies team that is rolling straight to the playoffs, with Bryce Harper only a few weeks from his return. The Phillies are dangerous

Minnesota Twins @ Houston Astros – 8:10PM ET

The Minnesota Twins and Houston Astros will be playing the third and final game of their three game series in this one. In game number one the Astros picked up the victory. In game number two the Astros added another win to clinch the series. 

Tony Battalio

The Minnesota Twins have already lost the first two games of the series and now they will be looking to avoid getting swept in game number three. They have been struggling as of late now they have fallen four games behind the first place Cleveland Guardians in the American League Central division. Minnesota comes into this game with a record of 62-60 through their first 122 games of the 2022 Major League Baseball season. They have lost six out of the last 10 games on the year and will come into the finale of the series on a five game losing streak as well. 

The Houston Astros have been red hot as of late and have become the top team in the American League. If recent trends continue they will likely remain that way for the remainder of the 2022 Major League Baseball season. They come into the finale of this three-game series with a record of 80-45 through their first 125  games of the 2022 Major League Baseball season. They have picked up six victories in their last 10 games on the year and come into this game on a three game winning streak.

Kyler Wolff

The Twins are taking on the best team in the AL in what will be the final game of a three game series in Houston. The Twins do not play well against the top teams in the league, they are 19-30 against teams that are currently projected to make the playoffs, and are currently on a five game skid. Luckily, unlike yesterday, they aren’t at such a huge pitching disadvantage as both teams plan on starting serviceable options with Chris Archer (4.02 ERA) for the Twins, and Luis Garcia (4.09 ERA) for the Astros, this game should be a solid matchup, and show us are best clue yet as to whether the Twins are a serious Playoff team, and if the Astros have a legitimate World Series opportunity.

At 79-45, the Astros, have been their typical selves this year as they March to their sixth straight postseason appearance powered by a hard hitting lineup led by the likes of Yourdan Alvarez (.296/.400/.609), Jose Altuve (.278/.366/.495), and Alex Bregman (.261/.365/.466), however, even this great hitting can’t save you from the typical ups and downs of baseball, and the fact that, despite the Twins recent struggles, they are still a very good team with solid pieces in place to help them win tough games, including a revitalized bullpen that includes trade deadline acquisitions, Jorge Lopez and Michael Fulmer. The Twins should be able to steal a win from the Astros, and this game seems better than any for them to do just that.

New York Yankees @ Oakland Athletics – 9:40PM ET

The New York Yankees and Oakland Athletics will be playing the first game of their four game weekend series in this one. These two American League teams have met once this season. The Yankees swept Oakland in a three game series earlier this year.

Tony Battalio

Up until the recent stretch the New York Yankees were the best team in all of Major League Baseball. Now they aren’t even the best team in the American League as their 76 and 48 record would only be good enough for the second seed if the playoffs were set to start today. They still hold a 7 1/2 game lead over the second place team in the American League East division. However, they have lost six out of their last 10 games on the year but will come into game one of the series on a three game winning streak. 

It has been a rough season for the Oakland Athletics as they entered into a full-blown fire sale before the year even began. They come into this four game weekend series with the New York Yankees with a record of 46-79 through their first 125 games of the 2022 Major League Baseball season. They are in last place of the American League West division and that is likely where they will be for the remainder of the year as they currently find themselves over thirty games out of first place.

Kyler Wolff

There is no world where I can sit here and say that the Yankees and Athletics are a matchup that is fair. The salary difference alone is laughable, with the Yankees spending 252.5 million dollars a year on their roster compared to the Athletics who only spend 47.5 million, it only makes sense that the Yankees are favorites to win this series. The Yankees are coming off of a travel day after sweeping the Mets in a short two game New York rivalry series. They will have Jameson Taillon (4.00 ERA) on the mound today in a late game matchup on the West coast, which could have a negative effect on the Yankees due to the time difference. Fortunately Jameson Taillon has a knack for winning games regardless of the circumstance, posting a record of 11-4 this season.

The Athletics will attempt to defend their home field against the evil empire, but will have to rely on James Kaprielian (4.29 ERA) in order to do so. Kaprielian is not a bad pitcher by any stretch of the imagination, but with an offense that only puts up 3.15 runs per game, (the second worst in the league behind only the Tigers) you would hope to have a pitcher on the mound that can consistently keep runs from scoring, especially when you are playing an offensive powerhouse like the Yankees.

If you need more news, information and predictions, head over to our MLB hub page for all your baseball needs!

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