Walk-Off Wagers: MLB Best Bets Today (Tigers Over White Sox, Zac Gallen Prop to Bet)

At long last, baseball season is upon us!

Spring Training can get a little monotonous, especially for those of us excited for Opening Day, but finally we get to see every MLB team in action on Thursday – which is a terrific day for sports in general. 

Not only does the baseball season kick off, but there are Sweet 16 college basketball matchups, NBA games featuring multiple NBA Finals contenders and a full slate of NHL action. You love to see it. 

I personally have been excited for the 2024 MLB season for quite some time, and with several big-name free agents (I’m looking at you Blake Snell and Jordan Montgomery) finally landing with teams, things seem pretty set as we close out the month of March and get ready for an April full of MLB games. 

This season, BetSided is going to have a series of MLB betting stories like this one to help deliver our favorite picks of the day. Our editors and writers will rotate with these stories to give readers a fresh perspective, but on Opening Day you’re all stuck with my best bets! (If I hit them all, nobody is going to complain, right?)

So, without further ado, here’s what I’m looking to wager on for Thursday’s action: 

Looking to bet on the MLB today? FanDuel Sportsbook has a great offer this MLB season. New users can take advantage of a great welcome offer where they will be eligible to earn $200 in bonus bets if they sign up with the link below, wager $5 and their bet wins!

Sign up for FanDuel now!

MLB Best Bets for Opening Day 2024

• Detroit Tigers Moneyline vs. Chicago White Sox
• Zac Gallen OVER 5.5 Strikeouts
• Nestor Cortes OVER 4.5 Strikeouts
• Chicago Cubs Moneyline vs. Texas Rangers

Detroit Tigers Moneyline vs. Chicago White Sox

One thing you’ll learn about me pretty quickly is that I’d really prefer not to take the run line in baseball bets and simply lay the juice on the moneyline.

Does it always work? No. 

But at the same time, I hate the idea of betting a run line, the team I bet on wins by one run, and I lose the bet. That’s the epitome of brutality. 

So, I’m going to lay this price with the Detroit Tigers, who dominated the AL Central last season (35-17), against the Chicago White Sox. 

Chicago is expected to take a major step back in the eyes of oddsmakers from seasons past, sitting dead last in the odds to win the division. This is a prime matchup for Detroit, who has ace Tarik Skubal on the mound. 

There has been some turnover in the Chicago lineup, but mainstays like Luis Robert, Eloy Jimenez and Yoan Moncada are still there. The White Sox were just 27th in Major League Baseball in OPS against left-handed pitching in the 2023 season, a bad sign if that carries over into Opening Day this season. 

Skubal is one of the best young lefties in the game – and he’s a player that I’m targeting as a dark horse for the AL Cy Young award. 

After missing the start of the 2023 season due to injury, Skubal was elite in 15 starts. He finished with a 7-3 record, 2.80 ERA, and struck out 102 batters in 80.1 innings of work. Skubal also posted a WHIP of 0.896, which was better than last season’s Cy Young award winner Gerrit Cole.

The Detroit offense needs to be better than it was last season (28th in runs scored), but I think the team wins its opener with Skubal on the mound. 

Zac Gallen OVER 5.5 Strikeouts

Arizona Diamondbacks ace Zac Gallen is a player that I love in the NL Cy Young award market, and I think he has a prime matchup on Opening Day at home against the Colorado Rockies. 

Gallen’s strikeout prop is set at just 5.5, a number that he cleared in 20 of his 34 regular season starts in 2023. 

I want to look at how Gallen started last season to potentially foreshadow this season, as he struck out seven, three, 11, seven, 11 and 12 batters in his six starts in March and April last season. That’s extremely impressive. 

We don’t need Gallen to record double-digit punchouts in this one, but he’s facing a Colorado team that is expected to be one of the worst in the National League in 2024. Last season, the Rockies struck out the third-most times amongst teams in MLB. 

I’ll gladly back one of baseball’s best pitchers in a favorable matchup on Opening Day. 

Nestor Cortes OVER 4.5 Strikeouts

I’m digging into a little history here, as New York Yankees Opening Day starter Nestor Cortes has thrived in his last two regular season outings against the Houston Astros. 

Can he follow that up with a big showing on Thursday?

Cortes may not need to pitch deep into the game to hit his strikeout prop, as he punched out seven Astros in five innings on June 26, 2022 and then eight Astros in four innings in an Aug. 5 start last season. 

Yes, this is a small sample size, but Cortes and his quirky pitching style has given Houston trouble in recent seasons. At just 4.5 K’s in this prop, he’s worth a shot at the OVER. 

Chicago Cubs Moneyline vs. Texas Rangers

An Opening Day upset? 

Why not! 

This play is all about Chicago Cubs starter Justin Steele, who was one of the best pitchers in baseball last season, posting a 16-5 record with a 3.06 ERA. The Cubs ended up winning 19 of Steele’s 30 appearances last season, and he earned his first All-Star nod. 

Now, why am I fading the defending World Series champs? Well, Texas isn’t at full strength with Jacob deGrom and Max Scherzer both out, so Nathan Eovaldi is getting the ball on Opening Day. 

Eovaldi had a solid season in 2023, but he struggled out of the gate, posting a 5.20 ERA over his first five starts of the campaign. Plus, Texas lost a key bullpen piece in Aroldis Chapman in free agency. 

I lean with Steele, who I think is the better pitcher, to get the win on Thursday.

Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.

Find Peter Dewey's betting record here You can also follow my daily plays on BetStamp here.