MLB Best Bets: Baseball Predictions, Picks for September 15

We have a big slate of MLB games for Sunday, September 15 and Action Network’s baseball staff has compiled two MLB best bets for a pair of key matchups. Among the games, we have predictions for the Mets vs. Phillies (1:35 p.m. ET) and Rays vs. Guardians (1:40 p.m. ET).

Below you’ll find analysis and MLB bets for both of the games our analysts are targeting on Sunday’s slate.

MLB Best Bets Sunday, September 15

The team logos in the table below represent each of the MLB bets that our betting staff is targeting from today’s slate of games. Click on the team logos for any of the matchups below to navigate to a specific bet discussed in this article.

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[subheader sizedown=”false” text=”Tony Sartori’s Mets vs Phillies Best Bet: Philly Superior in All Facets”][/subheader]

[gameheader haspick=”true” picktext=”Phillies -1.5 (+146 | Play to +140)” league=”mlb” awaylogo=”https://images.actionnetwork.com/blog/2023/08/2023-mlb-logo-new-york-mets.png” awayname=”New York Mets” awayslug=”new-york-mets” homelogo=”https://images.actionnetwork.com/blog/2023/08/2023-mlb-logo-philadelphia-phillies.png” homename=”Philadelphia Phillies” homeslug=”philadelphia-phillies” date=”Sunday, Sept. 15″ time=”1:35 p.m. ET” network=”MLB.TV” bookname=”FanDuel” bookprimarylogo=”https://assets.actionnetwork.com/122955_FanDuelSportsBook@1x.jpg” bookreviewslug=”fanduel”][/gameheader]

By Tony Sartori

This matchup should be all Philly. Let’s begin with the starting pitchers, which is a clear edge for the Phillies as they hand the ball to Cristopher Sanchez while New York returns with David Peterson.

Sanchez outranks Peterson in WHIP, xERA, xBA, average exit velocity, strikeout rate, walk rate, barrel rate and hard-hit rate. The pitching edge doesn’t end there as Philadelphia’s bullpen outranks the Mets’ in ERA, FIP and xFIP.

That just leaves the hitting, which is yet another advantage for the Phillies. Entering this matchup, they outrank New York in runs scored per game, hits per game, BA, OBP, SLG, OPS and stolen bases.

Add in home-field, and there is no reason to not like Philly in this matchup.

Pick: Phillies -1.5 (+146 | Play to +140)

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[subheader sizedown=”false” text=”Sean Paul’s Rays vs Guardians Best Bet: Bradley an Easy Fade”][/subheader]

[gameheader haspick=”true” picktext=”Guardians ML (-110 | Play to -140)” league=”mlb” awaylogo=”https://images.actionnetwork.com/blog/2023/08/2023-mlb-logo-tampa-bay-rays.png” awayname=”Tampa Bay Rays” awayslug=”tampa-bay-rays” homelogo=”https://images.actionnetwork.com/blog/2023/08/2023-mlb-logo-cleveland-guardians.png” homename=”Cleveland Guardians” homeslug=”cleveland-guardians” date=”Sunday, Sept. 15″ time=”1:40 p.m. ET” network=”MLB Network” bookname=”DraftKings ” bookprimarylogo=”https://assets.actionnetwork.com/477013_DraftKings@1x.png” bookreviewslug=”draftkings”][/gameheader]

By Sean Paul

It’s been a rough go lately for Tampa Bay’s promising flamethrower, Taj Bradley. After starting the year in great fashion, Bradley owns a disastrous 8.78 ERA over his past seven starts with an 0-5 record. I’m not a “wins and losses” guy for pitchers since we’re in 2024 and the stat is largely meaningless, but it’s meaningful in this instance for one reason — Bradley is pitching the Rays out of games. He’s not even giving his team a chance to win games, and a mediocre offense, it makes digging out of a large hole more difficult.

I’d have some hesitancy about backing the Guardians here if it weren’t for their sudden offensive resurgence in September. They rank ninth in MLB this month with a 100 wRC+ and rank sixth in home runs.

Although Steven Kwan looks lost at the plate, other pieces, like Lane Thomas and Andres Gimenez picking up the slack is a major boost for the offense.

On the hill for the Guardians is Ben Lively, who I don’t have a ton of faith in, but I also don’t trust the Rays offense to hit Lively. If he’s able to get into a groove and generate an easy out, then he could finish a strong five or six Innings. That’s all Cleveland needs from Lively to get to the best bullpen in the sport.

Pick: Guardians ML (-110 | Play to -140)