Monday is usually the thinnest slate of games, but that doesn’t mean that don’t have MLB picks for August 21st. This Monday is a little more dense than usual, with ten night games. We’ve scanned through all of them to find our favorite MLB bets for August 21. Come tail along with these winners.
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MLB Picks for August 21st
Boston Red Sox @ Houston Astros
Start Time – 8:10 pm EST
Minute Maid Park
Broadcast – MLB TV
Christian Javier takes the hill at home for the Astros on Monday, and if you told me that in May, I’d be salivating on a home line that is this close. However, Javier has been bad for the last two months. In June, he faced some of the worst hitting teams and still posted a 5.79 ERA. He followed that with an 8.68 ERA in July and has, so far, a 5.65 ERA in August. He’s had just one game in the last seven where he didn’t let up a home run, and that was against Oakland – a game in which he lost.
James Paxton has been on an opposite trajectory for the Red Sox. He has a 3.31 ERA in August and has only walked three guys all month over 16.1 innings. He also had a good July, with the exception of one start against the Cubs. With the Red Sox coming off a road sweep of the rival Yankees and pushing for the final wild card spot, I like them here at +110.
Texas Rangers @ Arizona Diamondbacks
Start Time – 9:40 pm EST
Chase Field
Broadcast – FOX
The Rangers might be on a bit of a skid right now, but I’m buying the dip on them. Despite dropping three to the Brewers, they’ve been hitting the ball hard and not being rewarded for it entirely. They had eight hits twice in the series and scored 8 runs once.
They’ll get a chance to face rookie Slade Cecconi for the Diamondbacks, who has been hit hard and got a little heavy with the walks last time out. With Jordan Montgomery on the hill, I think the Rangers will score enough to cover the runline at -1.5, which is set at +105.
Kansas City Royals @ Oakland Athletics
Start Time – 9:40 pm EST
Oakland Coliseum
Broadcast – MLB TV
Neither of these two teams are the type that you like to back regularly. Both walk into tonight’s matchup losers of four of their last five. Neither have had a potent offense, and their bullpens give everybody nightmares.
The difference maker here is the pitching they have on tap. The Athletics will send Paul Blackburn to the hill who has been phenomenal. He’s thrown 30 innings over his last five starts and has only allowed seven earned (four of which were in one start). Most importantly, he’s eating up those innings, so we don’t see the bullpen.
The Royals will start Tucker Davidson, who has mostly been functioning as a reliever since he arrived from the Angels. He has a 5.68 ERA and has not been stretched out all year – having been topped out at 54 pitches this year. That means we’ll see plenty of that 28th ranked bullpen of the Royals, which gives me a surprising level of confidence in the Oakland moneyline at -130.
Prop(s) of the Day – Zack Gelof O1.5 Total Bases
As I mentioned before, I think the Royals have a dire situation when it comes to pitching today in Oakland and the person who is feasting the most for the Athletics right now is rookie Zack Gelof. He’s currently hitting a solid .308 and looks to be a real breakout candidate for the struggling club. In addition, he’s got multiple bases in seven of his last nine games. Yet, for some reason, his over 1.5 total bases line is set at +155, which makes it one of my favorite MLB bets for August 21st.
If you’d like even more MLB bets for August 21st, be sure to check out the MLB Gambling Podcast. The guys are dropping daily episodes to make you the smartest guy at the bar.
