Best Bet 4/17/2026

Tampa Bay Rays @ Pittsburgh Pirates(-1.5)

DK +157

FD +154

MLB Best Bet Season Record: 7-7-0

MLB.com

The year is 2026. Make Money with Mace has been a blog for nearly 3 years. The Pittsburgh Pirates(on non Skenes days) have never been the subject of a best bet. They've always been someone to bet against, never bet on. Early in 2026 there are signs of life. So far the Pirates rank 10th in batting fWAR, 10th in pitching fWAR, and a below average 19th defensive fWAR.

Brandon Lowe, Oneil Cruz, Ryan, O'Hearn, and Bryan Reynolds are powering a good offense and the starting pitchers are great across the board. Bubba Chandler is a flamethrowing young gun that should be a system shock to the Rays who're coming off of beating down the moribund White Sox. I think that a good Pirates team is able to take game 1 off a good Rays team, since they've been doing nearly exclusively with their bats. The arms have not rounded into form just yet and that should give them some trouble, as it did against the Cardinals, Brewers, and Cubs.

All in all, I think that we see a good Pirates team start off on the right foot for a homestand, making best bet history.

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