MLB Best Bets for Wednesday, May 29

The MLB betting slate on Wednesday, May 29 is packed, beginning with some fantastic matchups early in the day and continuing on late into the night. There are plenty of big names pitching, which is always exciting given there's money to be made in finding the matchups these pitchers dread, and there are some undervalued names to take a look at in other matchups.

(Photo by Quinn Harris/Getty Images)

I've found some great edges in the pitching matchups in Milwaukee, Anaheim and Seattle and will be backing two teams with an eye for the division lead as well as one of the best teams in baseball to pick up yet another win.

Let's get into our our best bets for Wednesday.

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BEST BET FOR CHICAGO CUBS VS MILWAUKEE BREWERS

Let's begin with a contentious series between the top two teams in the NL Central in the Chicago Cubs and Milwaukee Brewers. Ben Brown dazzled on Tuesday night and lifted Chicago to a much-needed victory as it tries to charge up the standings, and now the visitors will send their top arm to the hill on Wednesday in Shota Imanaga.

The left-hander started off the season at a torrid pace, and it seems he's gotten even better as the weeks have gone on. Why do I say that? Well, Imanaga began his first five or so starts as the most extreme fly ball pitcher in the league, and he's quickly found the inherent value of rolling up ground balls by bringing his rate up over 40% in May.

The lefty already owns a stellar 27.8% strikeout rate with an elite 4.3% walk rate, and now his numbers on contact have improved.

The Brewers have seen a jump in swinging strike rate over the last two weeks, so even with a slightly better strikeout rate I don't like them to get enough balls in play against one of the top strikeout arms in the National League here.

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They're also still one of the 10 most guilty teams in strikeouts this year and have struggled against lefties with a 92 wRC+ this year and high 24.2% strikeout rate.

On the flip side, Bryse Wilson has pitched underneath his Expected ERA by a large margin and the Cubs' offense seems to be heating back up again after returning Dansby Swanson and Nico Hoerner from injury.

This team loves to hit the ball in the air, something that works well at home and didn't work so well in the spacious Busch Stadium last weekend. Milwaukee is eighth in park factor for home runs, so I expect Chicago's offense to remain hot here.

Best Bet: Cubs ML (-142 at DraftKings)

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BEST BET FOR NEW YORK YANKEES VS LOS ANGELES ANGELS

Speaking of strikeouts, let's talk about the indomitable Luis Gil. He's struck out nearly 32% of the batters he's faced this year which is downright silly, especially when you factor in that he's been excellent on contact with a .180 xBA and low 29.2% hard-hit rate.

Pitching in front of a great defense, too, the only thing that can hurt him (as always) is the walk.

The Angels rank just 26th in walk rate this season, something that hasn't improved over the last two weeks, but one thing that has been an issue all season is strikeouts at 23.1%. This isn't exactly a great matchup for a team which has struggled to get the ball in play and is dealing with a wealth of injuries which has thrust some inexperienced and very flawed hitters into the lineup.

On the flip side, they'll be starting left-hander Tyler Anderson who has been starved for strikeouts and has pitched to a ton of fly balls, something that's a dangerous game with the powerful Yankees who are second in baseball with a .179 Isolated Power.

This is a home run park, and Anderson a home run pitcher, which makes me very excited to take New York here while both of these starters are on the hill.

Best Bet: Yankees First Five Innings -0.5 (-140)

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BEST BET FOR HOUSTON ASTROS VS SEATTLE MARINERS

Seattle is where fly balls go to die, which is excellent news for Justin Verlander who has been an extreme fly ball arm for his entire career and has brought his number up to its highest point in four years this season.

The good news is that his hard-hit rate has come down significantly to 30.2% and that's helped out with diminishing returns in the strikeout department.

The Mariners are a dreadful offense at their unkind home park, hitting just .217 with a .258 slugging percentage, and they've been especially poor in the strikeout department in all games they've played. This should make Verlander look like a stud once more, and on the other side of the coin I am a bit concerned with George Kirby's 4.50 ERA in the month of May.

The right-hander has now given up five earned runs in each of his last two outings with just six strikeouts to show for in 12 innings, and while those starts did come away from home the drop in punchouts should be noticeable here against an Astros team ranked dead last in strikeout rate at 17.6%.

Kirby's been seen as an elite arm, but without strikeouts he could very well look like an average one given his poor .248 xBA and .443 xSLG, both of which are worse than the league norm.

The xSLG, particularly, is significantly worse.

This should be a night for the Astros, like the Cubs, to get one back against the leader in their division and move closer to the top.

Best Bet: Astros ML (+100 at BetRivers)

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