We have a pair of under-the-radar names to wrap up our week. For our first play, we’re looking at Ben Rice of the New York Yankees in their matchup with the Tampa Bay Rays. For the second play, we’re going to the back half of the slate to find Nathaniel Lowe of the Washington Nationals as they take on the Colorado Rockies.
We played it a little risky yesterday, and we lost our streak of profitable days. For just the second time all season and the first time in more than two weeks, Corbin Carroll struck out three times. He got a hit, but he couldn’t do much else at the plate. In the Josh Smith world, he was projected to return from a thumb injury he sustained over the weekend, but it wasn’t meant to be. We lost .5 units yesterday, and we’ll look to bounce back today.
Best bets record to date
- 2025 year record: 18-28-4 (-3.05 units)
Find Gage Bridgford's Best Bets betting record here.
MLB best bets today
- Ben Rice O1.5 Hits + Runs + RBIs (-105) - 1 Unit BetMGM
- Nathaniel Lowe O0.5 RBIs (+165) - .50 Units Bet365
Ben Rice O1.5 Hits + Runs + RBIs (-105) BetMGM
I’ve generally been looking for longer odds plays so far this season, but this is a spot I wanted to take advantage of. Rice has been thriving thus far in his first full season. Through his first 19 games, Rice is batting .317 with a 1.064 OPS. Of his 19 hits, nine of them have gone for extra bases, including five home runs. He’s also driven in nine runs despite batting first or second for the last 12 games. The majority of Rice’s success has come against RHP. He’s batting .395 with a 1.274 OPS against them while hitting just .182 and .672 against LHP.
Tonight, the Rays are sending Drew Rasmussen to the bump. Through three starts, Rasmussen has completed 15 innings of work while allowing just nine hits and one run. Despite that, there are some stats that look good for us. Rasmussen relies primarily on three pitches to LHB. They are his 4-seam fastball, cutter and sinker. Lefties are batting .600 against his sinker this season, and it just so happens that Rice is batting .800 against sinkers from RHP. Throw in the fact that George Steinbrenner Field has been very friendly to LHB this season, and there is a lot to like here for this price.
Nathaniel Lowe O0.5 RBIs (+165) Bet365
I’ve usually looked to target players with positive matchup histories, but we’re going with two different players today that have never played the opposing pitchers. After multiple strong years with the Texas Rangers, Lowe has been playing well in his first season with the Nationals. He’s batting .284 with a .853 OPS, and his 16 RBIs are tied for the 10th-most in baseball. Despite having relatively even splits against RHP & LHP throughout his career, Lowe has been feasting on RHP this year. Lowe is batting .368 with a 1.163 OPS against RHP this year, and 15 of his 16 RBIs have come against them.
Rookie Chase Dollander has made two starts thus far. He’s been solid against RHB with a .200 batting average allowed, but he’s allowing LHB to bat .313 against him with an OPS of 1.228. Of his four home runs allowed, three of them have been hit by lefties. Two of the three batters in front of Lowe will be batting left-handed against Dollander. Both of them have on-base percentages of .350 or higher against RHP. This is a great spot for Lowe to drive in a run.
Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.