MLB Best Bets Today June 5
Another big weekend is upon us during the 2026 MLB season, as all 30 teams are set to take the field on Friday. There is a day game on the docket, as the Giants and Cubs play a matinee at Wrigley Field, but every other game starts at 6:40 p.m. ET or later. Weather shouldn’t be too much of a factor with all the night games, and there are some good hitting conditions in a few spots, including Denver and St. Louis.
I’ll be posting my daily best bets Monday-Saturday with a Sunday Night Baseball preview on Sunday, as all the day games make it tough to get something out with lead time out here in Las Vegas. All lines are from DraftKings and are current at the time of publish. Please take the initiative to SHOP AROUND for the best odds. It matters. A lot.
One new offering this baseball season is our Opta AI Player Prop Projections. They are for VSiN Pro Subscribers only, so you can check out our current offers here. Zachary Cohen will be using those projections and his own handicapping to write up MLB player props.
Greg Peterson will have his best bets posted the night before and you can also check out his daily lines to see what looks to be off-market. Steve Makinen has also released his updated Bullpen Betting Systems and DraftKings Splits Systems, plus he’ll have a daily analytics report.
Feel free to use my opinions and thoughts, as well as our suite of MLB Betting Tools, including the DraftKings and Circa Betting Splits, Steve Makinen’s Daily Ratings, Greg Peterson’s Daily Lines, the 1st 5 Innings Analyzer, and Umpire Stats. Check out our new MLB tools powered by Ballpark Pal: Strikeout Projections, Park Factors, and YRFI Report.
Here are the MLB best bets today for June 5:
Athletics vs. Astros Prediction
Pick: Astros -110
Jack Perkins makes his first start of the 2026 season at the MLB level here, as the Astros counter with Peter Lambert in the series opener in the Lone Star State. Perkins last worked on May 30 and 31 in relief, going 2.1 innings in his second appearance and just 0.2 innings in the first one. He’s maxed out at 4.2 innings and 18 batters faced at the MLB level this season.
Perkins has a 5.46 ERA with a 3.14 xERA and a 2.60 FIP, so there are some positive signs in the profile, including his 33/7 K/BB ratio and just one home run allowed in 28 innings pitched. For whatever reason, though, righties are slashing .302/.356/.415 against him with a .343 wOBA, while lefties have struck out in 22 of their 66 plate appearances and have slashed just .190/.288/.207.
Lambert has been solid over his eight starts for the Astros with a 3.77 ERA, 3.86 xERA, and a 3.43 FIP over 45.1 innings pitched. He’s walked a few too many batters, but he’s kept the ball in the park at a terrific rate and has only allowed six Barrels in 122 batted ball events.
The Astros recently welcomed Josh Hader back to the bullpen, stabilizing that unit and reassigning everybody back into their usual roles.
Guardians vs. Rangers Prediction
Pick: Guardians -126
I’ll stay in Texas for the second play of the night with the Guardians and Rangers kicking off their series at 7:15 p.m. local time. Parker Messick gets the nod for Cleveland and Kumar Rocker will get the call for the home team.
Rocker is building up quite a few regression signs, as he sports a 3.54 ERA, but a 4.64 xERA and a 4.14 FIP. He’s also got a 4.48 xFIP and 4.59 SIERA, two of the better estimators of future performance. Rocker also has some difficulties with lefties, posting just a 25/17 K/BB ratio against them with a .250/.346/.380 slash. The Guardians are likely to throw eight or nine lefties at him tonight and that means that they should get some traffic on the bases with chances to score runs.
Messick owns a 2.21 ERA with a 3.25 xERA and a 3.05 FIP over his 69.1 innings of work. Nearly all of his 12 starts have been really good and he’s got an extra day off between starts this time, which is a big deal for a young pitcher going through the rigors of an MLB season for the first time.
He has over a strikeout per inning and has allowed just a 34.1% Hard Hit% with a 5.1% Barrel%, so he’s done an excellent job of keeping the ball out of the hitters’ nitro zones.
Stephen Vogt stayed away from his top relievers yesterday, throwing Codi Heuer and Matt Festa, so all hands should be on deck for tonight and this bullpen has been excellent of late.
