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Fridays are always a joy during the MLB season, they almost always have full 15-game slates for baseball fans and bettors to enjoy. Each MLB game comes with a buffet of options at the best betting sites, and MLB betting reaches a fever pitch on Fridays and over the weekend. April 3 marks the 2026 season's first full Friday slate, with the highlights being top prospect Konnor Griffin making his MLB debut with the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Milwaukee Brewers visiting the Kansas City Royals in a battle of Midwestern postseason contenders.

SportsLine expert Adam Thompson has a selection of picks for Friday's games. An analytics-driven exploiter of matchups, Thompson specializes in the NFL, MLB and the NBA. He also has delivered consistent winners in college basketball, horse racing and golf. Over the past two seasons, he's up over 70 units in MLB and over 60 units in the NBA. You can find more of his picks at SportsLine, and in the member-exclusive SportsLine Discord server, a community of sports betting enthusiasts and SportsLine experts.

Here's Adam Thompson's best bets and analysis for Friday's MLB games. 

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Friday's MLB picks

Toronto Blue Jays (-1.5, -122) 

It's early in the season, but the White Sox so far have made the Milwaukee Brewers and Miami Marlins look like legit World Series contenders. It shows in the statistics, too: The Sox rank dead-last in ERA at 8.63, and their bullpen is even worse (9.12). That's good news for the Blue Jays, as Chicago is going the "opener" route for its home opener. 

The White Sox are also bottom-10 in average and runs scored. Everything has come via eight home runs in six games. That isn't likely to work on Friday vs. Toronto starter Dylan Cease, who's given up an average of one homer for every two starts over the last four years. Cease was dynamite in the opener, overwhelming a bad Athletics lineup with 12 strikeouts and only three hits allowed over 5.1 innings. 

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Texas parlay: Rangers money line + Astros money line (+201) 

Texas is hitting the ball well and its bullpen owns a 1.50 ERA through a week of play. It just needs MacKenzie Gore to slow down the Reds' lineup. Well, Gore's Rangers debut went well; he breathed a sigh of relief he was no longer in Washington, then no-hit the Phillies for the opening five innings. The Reds are a respectable 3-3, but rank 29th in battiung average (.187) and are scoring 2.8 runs per outing. We're not afraid of fading Brady Singer. 

Meanwhile, Injuries have derailed the progression of Astros lefty Cristian Javier, who managed just 15 starts over two years after starting 56 games in 2022-23. His 2026 didn't get started great, but he can bounce back here against an Athletics lineup that thus far has a hilariously bad .463 OPS vs. right-handers. 

Jeffrey Springs is capable for Oakland, but Houston, speaking of OPS on one side of the plate, has a .943 vs. southpaws. There isn't much of a home field advantage in Sacramento. 

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Milwaukee Brewers -112

Luinder Avila makes his first MLB start, called up after Michael Wacha fell ill. Over 14 innings, Avila was pretty good in a relief role for Kansas City in 2025. But he made one start this season at Triple-A Omaha and it didn't go well, and he owned a 5.23 ERA last year after being called up to start that level. 

He relies on curveballs, and the Brewers last year had the lowest chase rate in MLB. 

K.C. has scored over four runs just once through six games. This likely isn't the spot for a breakout. Brewers starter Chad Patrick had a solid-enough debut, giving up one run over 4.1 innings vs. the White Sox. He was solid as a rookie in 2025, and April was his best month before fizzling a little later. Milwaukee always has a top-tier bullpen and so far this year's no exception, with its 1.50 ERA thus far.