This article is part of our MLB Picks series.
MLB Picks Today: Saturday, April 12
It feels a bit like February here Saturday in New Jersey, but Spring and a full day of baseball awaits! Let's play two!
Chicago Cubs 
vs. Los Angeles Dodgers 
F5 (1st 5 Innings) Over 4.5 Runs (-130 at DraftKings Sportsbook)
It's a fun matchup, as we get two of the most popular teams in MLB in a Saturday night showcase game. The Dodgers and Yoshinobu Yamamoto shut out the Cubs in Friday's series opener. Can they do it again Saturday night? I say no. The Cubs offense has stormed out of the gate in 2025, scoring 6.4 runs/game, second only to the Yankees. Kyle Tucker has made a great case for his upcoming monster free-agent payday as he's off to a 206 wRC+ start and a .317/.442/.667 triple slash. Seiya Suzuki isn't far behind at .302/.400/.556. Virtually the whole lineup has gotten off to a nice start as Dansby Swanson (.410 xwOBA), Nico Hoerner, Michael Busch and Carson Kelly (.512 wOBA) all carry a wRC+ over 100.
The Dodgers counter with their travelling All-Star team. What if I told you none of Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts or Freddie Freeman lead the team in OBP or rank in the top two in slugging or homers? Those distinctions go to Will Smith in in OBP (.479), Tommy Edman (6 homers, .603 SLG) and Teoscar Hernandez (5 homers, .596 SLG). Freeman has not played much this year, so he gets a pass. The others do too, they're both playing great, it's just an insanely deep lineup when three guys are off to monster starts on top of the three walk-in Hall of Famers.
I like the over here mostly because I don't particularly trust either pitcher to get through these monster lineups. The Dodgers start Roki Sasaki, who shows all the signs of a someday ace, but he has had choppy results this far. In 8.2 IP over three starts, he's walked 11 vs. nine Ks and just a 9.7% SwStr%. Batters seem to have a good read on him as he's only generated an O-Swing% of 18.3%. Ben Brown gets the ball for the Cubs, and he's another guy with a big ceiling that has yet to show much. He made the Cubs rotation out of spring, which excited all of us in the Fantasy baseball world, but in two starts, plus an extended relief appearance vs. the Dodgers in Japan, he has an ugly 7.71 ERA and 2.23 WHIP in 11.2 IP, along with a 14.2% BB%.
Milwaukee Brewers 
vs. Arizona Diamondbacks 
Brewers ML +155 (at BetRivers Sportsbook)
OK, let's take a shot on an underdog here. We get two quality teams, but nice odds on the Brewers thanks to what looks like a pretty big pitching mismatch on paper. The Brew Crew sends unknown Chad Patrick in to face presumptive D-Backs ace Corbin Burnes. Well, they've both started two games, and one of these pitchers has a 2.45 ERA and 1.27 WHIP, and the other is at 5.79 and 1.93. And since I'm asking the question, you can probably case Patrick is the former and Burnes is the latter. Burnes has seen his K% drop every season since 2020, and he's started 2025 at 23.4%, just a click above his meh 2024 levels, but it's come with a pretty bad 14.9% BB% thus far. Patrick, meanwhile, is a pretty unknown 26-year-old rookie filling in for the Brewers decimated pitching staff, and so far, so good. He pitched to a 2.90 ERA and 1.17 WHIP in AAA ball last year, so he's not a nothing.
The Brewers, as a whole, have picked it up after a dreadful start. Jackson Chourio took a 5K platinum sombrero on Opening Day, but he's up to .302/.297/.619 with four homers, but yes, no walks yet. William Contreras has woken up as well this week with his first couple homers of the season. The Crew won 7-0 Friday night, I like them to keep on rolling, especially at plus-money.
MLB Picks Recap
- Brewers ML +155
- Cubs-Dodgers F5 Over 4.5 (-130)
