Worldwide Sports News

Want to get more Covers content? Add us as a preferred source on your Google account here.

Let's kick off a new week with a collection of MLB picks from our team of baseball experts.

Our headline attraction involves getting the Tampa Bay Rays at +156 to win straight up against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Polymarket.

With Nick Martinez on the bump, you might think L.A. has the edge. But dig a little deeper, and you'll see that's not necessarily the case on Monday, June 15.

MLB expert picks for today

Pick	Odds
Jon Metler: TB ML	+156
Neil Parker: CIN ML	-133
Joe Osborne: LAA ML	+117

Prices courtesy of Polymarket.

Jon Metler's expert pick: Rays moneyline

Price: 39¢ (+156) at Polymarket

The Tampa Bay Rays are trading at 39 cents on the moneyline, and that's simply too big a number. I make them closer to 45-cent underdogs in this matchup.

At first glance, Nick Martinez appears to be in a difficult spot against a Los Angeles Dodgers lineup loaded with left-handed hitters. However, his elite circle changeup is built to combat left-handed bats and negate a significant on-paper platoon advantage. 

The pitch currently carries a +9 run value and features a sharp fade down and away from lefties, making it difficult for hitters to pull the ball with authority. That movement helps suppress power, generate weak contact, and neutralize one of the Dodgers' biggest strengths.

Because Martinez has the perfect weapon to attack this type of lineup, I believe this matchup is much closer than the market suggests, making the Rays a valuable underdog at the current price.

• Time: 10:10 p.m. ET
• How to watch: ESPN

Neil Parker's expert pick: Reds moneyline

Price: 57¢ (-133) at Polymarket

There’s a sizable pitching edge for the Cincinnati Reds tonight, with Chase Burns establishing himself as an elite righty and sporting a tidy 2.95 xERA and 3.21 xFIP across 13 starts.

He’s held opposing hitters to the fifth-lowest squared-up swing rate among qualified starting pitchers, and the New York Mets rank 28th in wOBA against righties for the season.

Of course, New York is sending Tobias Myers to the bump for just his third start of the year after primarily working as a reliever, so the Mets will rely on a bullpen that’s been tasked with 58 1/3 innings over the past six days.

• Time: 7:10 p.m. ET
• How to watch: SNY, Reds.TV

Joe Osborne's expert pick: Angels moneyline

Price: 46¢ (+117) at Polymarket

The Los Angeles Angels look like a rare live road underdog in this matchup.

Walbert Urena has been outstanding to begin his career, allowing one earned run or fewer in six of his last eight starts since the beginning of May. That sets up well against an Arizona Diamondbacks lineup that has struggled versus right-handed pitching lately, ranking near the bottom of the league in OPS over the last two weeks.

The Angels are in much better form offensively and should capitalize against Ryne Nelson, who owns a 5.19 ERA and is coming off a pathetic seven-earned-run outing against Miami.

• Time: 9:40 p.m. ET
• How to watch: ABTV, Diamondbacks.TV

More MLB best bets for today

This article originally appeared on Covers.com, read the full article here and view our best betting sites or check out our top sportsbook promos.

Want to get more Covers content? Add us as a preferred source on your Google account here.

Looking to start the week with a winner?

Tonight's MLB player props feature a pair of hitters in favorable matchups and one of baseball's premier strikeout artists at plus money.

From a high-upside K prop to two bats poised to make an impact, here are my favorite MLB picks for Monday, June 15.

Best MLB player props today

Player	Pick	Odds
Zack Wheeler	Over 6.5 Strikeouts	+109
Juan Soto	Over 1.5 Hits, Runs, RBI	-115
Junior Caminero	Over 1.5 Total Bases	-113

Zack Wheeler Over 6.5 Strikeouts (+109)

It has been a minute since a strikeout prop has grabbed my attention enough to back it, but Philadelphia Phillies right-hander Zack Wheeler finds himself in a great spot to shove against a struggling Miami Marlins lineup that punched out 10 times on Sunday. Some may view this as a clear bounce back spot for Miami, but I see plenty of reasons to expect another swing-happy performance.

For starters, five Marlins hitters own a strikeout rate of at least 27.9% on the road this season, with four of those bats sitting north of 30.6%. Wheeler's trends are just as enticing. According to Batters-Box, he has recorded 7+ strikeouts in 68.75% of his 32 elite-rated matchups. When carrying an elite strikeout rating, that number jumps to 76% across a 25-game sample.

At home this season, Wheeler owns a 26.6% strikeout rate and a 36.1% chase rate outside the zone. At plus money, this is worth a play. I would take it down to even money, but do not pay juice for it.

• Time: 6:40 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: NBCSP, MIAM

Juan Soto Over 1.5 Hits, Runs, RBI (-115)

An extremely tough price to pass up for one of the most dangerous bats in baseball, a hitter who is always on base, always a threat to score, and always a threat to collect a hit. New York Mets star Juan Soto to go over 1.5 HRR at -115 is a steal in my opinion.

Especially when he clears this prop nearly 60% of the time when sporting an elite rating. That comes across a 220 elite rating sample size. Soto was in a bit of a slump over the last two weeks, but has since turned it around. In his last 30 plate appearances against right-handed pitching, he owns an .868 OPS with a 23.3% walk rate, 59% hard contact, and a 9.1% barrel rate. Not to mention, he has a 99.3% arsenal coverage against Cincinnati Reds starter Chase Burns.

Burns has been allowing a ton of elevation to left-handed hitters this season. At home, those hitters have been elevating the ball nearly 70% of the time. Over his last 60 lefties faced, he has allowed a 12.9% barrel rate and a 70.9% elevation rate, while also carrying a .347 xBA and .679 xSLG against.

Burns does not walk a lot of lefties, but he also is not facing Soto-level hitters every day. I prefer the built-in safety of the HRR prop over the bases market here. Comfortable taking this up to -130.

• Time: 7:10 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: CINR, SNY

Junior Caminero Over 1.5 Total Bases (-113)

The very first prop I locked in today was for Tampa Bay Rays slugger Junior Caminero to go over 1.5 total bases, as he draws Los Angeles Dodgers left hander Eric Lauer, who enters today with one of the worst pitcher ratings on the slate. He also grades poorly in matchup ISO, strikeout rate, and ground ball rate.

Lauer has been struggling against right handed hitters at home this season, allowing a 71% elevation rate. Overall, right handed bats have posted a .504 xSLG and .349 xwOBA against him, while also producing a 12% barrel rate against the southpaw. In addition to that, 54% of Lauer's pitch mix is valued below league average, per FanGraphs. 

Caminero has been handling left handed pitching well this season, hitting .271 with a .457 SLG and .871 OPS. Over his last 30 plate appearances, he is hitting .304 with a .902 OPS, while generating nearly 60% hard contact and a 12% barrel rate in that span.

I am not the biggest fan of paying juice for bases props, but I would take this down to minus 120 at the most.

• Time: 10:10 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: ESPN

This article originally appeared on Covers.com, read the full article here and view our best betting sites or check out our top sportsbook promos.

It’s going to be 97 degrees where I live on Wednesday. The dog days of summer are officially here.

In the world of baseball, transaction season heats up with the weather. Such is the nature of establishing a trade deadline around the end of July – this season it’s on August 3rd – as teams become forced to classify the first 100 or so games of their season into one of two distinct evaluations.

Is this team good enough to invest in further? Should we give them the best chances to win as many games as possible this year?

Or, is this team the Cincinnati Reds?

Joking aside, that’s not completely true. While teams get lumped into the buyers or sellers categories as the trade deadline approaches, the Reds often don’t even do enough to qualify for either. And just last summer, they pulled off the remarkable feat of being a buyer at the deadline for a player who actively made them so bad in 2026 that it’s been a net negative investment.

This is a different Reds club than last year, obviously. This time around, their April magic has been replaced by hell from the injury gods, their record in close games having now been turned on its head by a threadbare bullpen. Across the entire sport’s highest level, only the Colorado Rockies have a worse run differential than these Reds, who once again reside in the cellar of the National League Central division.

So, it’s unsurprising that when asked at the end of last week whether or not this club should be a buyer, or a seller as trade season heats up this summer, roughly 3 out of 5 of you responded that they needed to start selling off players.

Digging themselves out of this hole is going to be difficult when Hunter Greene is still several weeks away. It’ll be difficult without half their bullpen, without Elly De La Cruz for another week or so.

The problem is, what Cincinnati has on the fringes of its long-term plan is a handful of players who haven’t exactly stacked up a ton of value on the trade market.

Eugenio Suarez is the biggest name of the bunch, but he’s having the single worst season of his career and will turn 35 years old this summer. The veterans signed to anchor the bullpen – Emilio Pagan, Pierce Johnson, Caleb Ferguson – are either injured or have been already this year, limiting the significance of any return if they are moved. Nate Lowe has hit well for most of the year, but there’s a reason why his market this offseason was so poor the Reds got him on a minor league deal in the first place. And pending free agent Brady Singer has the fourth lowest fWAR of the 130 pitchers who have thrown at least 50 IP so far this season.

So, selling at the fringes here doesn’t even do much to improve the future, aside from saving a few million bucks that the owners likely wouldn’t pour back into the team 100% anyway. The question I should probably have asked – and likely will again soon – is whether there are pieces that still have more team control than that group who don’t look like they fit the future of this franchise’s next window to compete who should be marketed this summer. That’s the kind of move that could bring back something of significance, a move that could shake the foundation of a franchise that’s found a way to stumble through this rebuild almost as badly as it stumbled through the last two.

Regardless, it sure looks like this club has no business being a buyer this summer. And if that’s the case, they might as well end up sellers.

Oh well. You win some, you lose some. Or, in the Giants’ case, you mostly lose. It has been a year since the Giants traded for Rafael Devers, and like most of their big swings since allowing Buster Posey to take the reins of the front office, the team has come up empty and looked bad in the attempt. It turns out that the critics of the deal were spot on. Devers’ contract was underwater from the moment the Red Sox signed him to it and the collapse of his skillset came even faster than the projection. Do the Giants inspire failure or does everything they touch turn to garbage by sheer coincidence? In any case, there’s nothing that can be done to improve Devers’ hitting.

He’s hitting .235/.293/.413 on the season while playing every game. He has 9 homers and is tied for the lead league in doubles with 21; so, you know, it’s not all bad. But the underlying metrics affirm what we’ve seen throughout the year: a hitter who’s a mess at the plate. At the end of May, I looked at Matt Chapman’s hitting metrics and came away with the thought that he’s not in an age-related decline but instead a focus or talent disruption. I see a vaguely similar situation for Devers, too.

He still hits the ball hard. That counts for something. His 49.5% Hard Hit rate is 88th percentile and average exit velocity of 91.9 mph is 87th. His 9.5% Barrel rate is the only other category where he measures as above average (61st percentile); but, these are all still big declines from last year, and especially his heyday of 2021-2024 (.279/.354/.519 — 126 HR 384 RBI — +17.0 fWAR).

He’s also whiffing on pitches at the same rate over the past several years. It’s 31.6% this year (10th percentile), but compare that back to 2021:

2021: 27.7% (29th)
2022: 28.2% (25th)
2023: 26.1% (45th)
2024: 30.9% (14th)
2025: 31.6% (10th)
2026: 30.8% (17th)

The big line of demarcation in his career was going from 2023 to 2024 when the big problem cited for why the contract was already underwater first asserted itself: that’s his contact rate in the strike zone. From 21-23 it was 79.2% on average. In 2024, it dropped to 74.9% and last year it fell to 73.9%. This year, it’s at 74.2%. The league average in this stat is between 76-77% every year. Just to give you some more context, going back to 2021, here are the 10 worst zone contact rate guys who got enough at bats to qualify for the batter leaderboards:

10. Luke Raley, 76.8%
9. Patrick Wisdom, 76.8%
8. Zack Gelof, 76.0%
7. Chris Taylor, 75.1%
6. Christopher Morel, 74.7%
5. J.D. Davis, 74.3%
4. Gabriel Arias, 74.0%
3. Matt Wallner, 73.2%
2. Jose Siri, 72.6%
1. Joey Gallo, 72.3%

Because of his outstanding 21-23, Devers winds up ranking just the 13th-lowest; however, if we adjust the years to 2024-present, Devers experiences a dramatic reranking.

10. Kyle Schwarber, 80.3%
9. Ryan McMahon, 80.3%
8. Adolis Garcia, 80.2%
7. Teoscar Hernanez, 79.9%
6. Mark Vientos, 79.9%
5. Jazz Chisholm, 79.1%
4. Randy Arozarena, 78.4%
3. Oneil Cruz, 77.9%
2. Nolan Gorman, 76.6%
1. Rafael Devers, 74.6%

All this to say that Devers’ continued inability to make consistent contact in the strike zone is now crashing into his other declined skill: pitch recognition. From 21-23 he had a called strike percentage of 10.7%. In 2024 it rose to 12.3% and last year it was 13.2%. This year, it’s 15%. Now, this rate has maybe a lot to do with ABS. Called balls have been turned to strikes against Rafael Devers 7 out of 9 times. He’s won just 1 challenge out of 6.

But the increased called strike rate parallels with a trend of him simply swinging less. Prior to 2024, he was swinging at around 53.5% of pitches thrown. That rate has dropped to 50% the past few seasons. His 30.3% strikeout rate is the highest of his career by far — 22% for his career, 25.5% for 2024-2025. So, what’s happening? He’s swinging less often but getting more called strikes (ABS is a partial culprit, of course) and still swinging and missing a lot when he does pull the trigger.

That bat speed doesn’t look good.

Statcast only tracks bat speed back to 2023, but take a look at this decline:

2023: 73.4 mph (68th percentile)
2024: 72.5 mph (61st)
2025: 71.6 mph (42nd)
2026: 71.7 mph (44th)

This is getting down to around LaMonte Wade Jr.’s at the start of last season, when he looked so bad I wondered if it was a portent of doom (it was!). LWJ’s wound up falling all the way down to 70 mph last year, but in a very small sample with the Astros this season (13 PA, where he has a 1.135 OPS) it’s up to 73.2 mph.

So, it’s not impossible that Devers makes some adjustments and optimizes his skills, some of which are working for him this season. But it’s hard to envision him making that turnaround… at least this season.

Luis Arraez was a free agent who set out to prove himself as a second baseman. Yes, Ron Washington has been there to give him some very relevant support, but it started with his tenacity. Jung Hoo Lee’s hitting seems to have improved because he’s been studying Luis Arraez. So, whatever turnaround to his career that might happen will have to come from Rafael Devers himself. Hitting coaches rarely get credit for fixing hitters and the Giants’ current coaching staff seems a lot more hands off or outright bad as any in recent memory.

But before you go thinking that I’m calling Devers’s character into question, let me put it this way: I think he’s taken to first base just fine, and that doesn’t happen if he doesn’t put in the work. When I watch him play the field, I see a goofy guy with a baseball-only body doing his best to field… and he’s okay. Definitely closer to terrible than great, but I wouldn’t characterize the play as outright bad. He’s also playing every day, which I think is a credit to him for having a degree of focus that would keep him interested in doing exactly that.

So, the focus is there, which only leaves buy in. Does he think he needs to make some changes to his swing or approach?

The Giants probably don’t feel like they know him well enough to have that conversation either. The coaching staff turnover being part of that and the green-ness of the current staff the other part. But also, as much as we’d like to think that the data revolution brought Apple Store-level service to every player, where a quant with an iPad just scoots up next to a player and is able to help them with a few graphics and optimized phrasing, I think it still comes down to the player seeking out what they need and doing the important work of actually incorporating changes into their approach. That’s why the headline reads as it does. Athletes aren’t often able to remake themselves on the fly in part because it’s hard to accept that the usual way of doing things has stopped working.

So, I guess in a way, this post is a lot like that Matt Chapman post. Unlike Chapman, though, Devers is definitely experiencing a physical decline of some sort (he’s not hitting the ball as hard), but the decline from a good player to a practically useless one appears to be entirely self-engineered. It’s unlikely that a 29-year old goes out like this based on aging alone. But, as Buster Posey is fond of saying, baseball is hard.

The situation isn’t hopeless, especially since Devers wound up having a good year after a rough time following the trade last year. It’s just that nothing the Giants have done this year and most of the last decade should give anyone hope for a better future.

The Mets are dealing with yet another injury, with right-hander Christian Scott hitting the IL.

The club announced that Scott has been placed on the 15-day IL, retroactive to June 12, with right hip impingement. Right-handers Tobias Myers and Jonathan Pintaro have been called up, and righty releiver Daniel Duarte has been optioned to Triple-A Syracuse.

Additionally, the Mets claimed infielder Zack Short off waivers from the Detroit Tigers and transferred infielder Jorge Polanco to the 60-day IL.

Scott pitched 4.2 innings against the St. Louis Cardinals on Thursday in his most recent outing. 

Overall, Scott has made nine starts this season, pitching to a 3.10 ERA over 40.2 innings. 

The Mets already have Kodai Senga on the IL, and with Sean Manaea and David Peterson pitching out of hybrid starter/bulk reliever roles, Scott, Freddy Peralta, and Nolan McLean were the only three definitive starters. 

While Scott’s next start likely would have fallen on Tuesday, the Mets have left things vague with their rotation plans for the upcoming series in Cincinnati. 

Myers will start on Monday night, but the team did not announce starters for the following two games.

There would seem to be a strong possibility that Jonah Tong will eventually get recalled to take Scott’s place in the rotation. Tong made three appearances for the Mets earlier this season, posting a 3.60 ERA. Since being optioned back to Triple-A, Tong has allowed eight earned runs in 9.0 innings over two starts.

Left-hander Zach Thornton is also on the 40-man roster, making him a possibility as well. 

Meanwhile, moving Polanco to the 60-day IL doesn't seem to be any reason for concern, as he hasn't played since April 14, making this more of a paper move than anything else. 

The 31-year-old Short played 10 games with Mets in 2024 and spent this year's spring training with the Yankees. He played 23 games with the Tigers this season, hitting .167.

When putting together a team, general managers should have an eye on today, of course, but also on the long-term outlook of the franchise. Some players will be considered key cornerstones several years. Sometimes, teams can get a decade-plus of quality performance from a major leaguer if they are extremely lucky. In the specific case of Andy Pettitte and the Yankees, we are talking about 15 campaigns of steady, reliable play.

Not only did Pettitte post some really solid regular-season numbers over the course of his long career, but he also became a postseason hero who is at or near the top of multiple October leaderboards. A big part of the late-90s dynasty, the left-hander won five World Series with the Yankees, made three All-Star teams, and has a plaque in Monument Park..

For his invaluable contributions in numerous title-winning squads and his incredible consistency over the years, we ranked Pettitte tenth in our Top 100 Yankees list.

Born: June 15, 1972 (Baton Rouge, Louisiana)
Yankees Tenure: 1995-2003, 2007-13

Pettitte was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, 54 years ago, to parents Tommy and JoAnn Pettitte. His family moved to Texas when he was eight-years-old, which probably played a role in his decision many years later to leave the Yankees for the Houston Astros after the 2003 campaign. He grew up in the Lone Star State, attending Deer Park High School in Deer Park, Texas, where he started showing off his talent on the mound. Like many baseball players who made it to the bigs, he also showed promise in other sports. In Pettitte’s case, football, where he was an offensive and defensive lineman.

With the help and support of his father, Pettitte developed a love for baseball at a young age. He looked up to Nolan Ryan and Roger Clemens as a young fan, and the latter would become a teammate and friend of his in the majors.

After graduating from high school, Pettitte went to San Jacinto College North in Houston, instead of a traditional four-year program. He lasted until the 22nd round of the 1990 MLB Draft, where the Yankees scooped him up, in part because everybody thought he would go to college. The left-hander never had top velocity and was considered “chunky,” “lumpy,” and “pudgy” at the time, per the Society of American Baseball Research (SABR).

Before joining the Yankees, he had an excellent year at San Jacinto College and, under the guidance of coach Wayne Graham, became more disciplined, gained strength, lost weight, and developed a sharp focus on the mound.

Pettitte signed with the Yankees a year later, in 1991, and started his journey as a minor league pitcher, throwing a knuckleball that his new battery mate, Jorge Posada, couldn’t consistently catch. He developed in the Yankees’ minor league system until 1995, when he made his MLB debut. That year, he would unofficially become part of the Yankees’ emerging crew of talented homegrown players that would eventually be known as the “Core Four”: himself, Posada, Derek Jeter, and Mariano Rivera. Those four players would be the backbone of New York’s upcoming dynasty.

Between April 29 and May 13, 1995, Pettitte was used as a reliever with mixed results. Then, he got a chance to start in late May and never looked back, finishing third in the AL Rookie of the Year race. Little did he know that he was about to make history.

The following season, 1996, would probably be the most memorable of his career. He led the league in wins with 21, posted a 3.87 ERA, finished second in the AL Cy Young race, and helped the Yankees win the World Series for the first time since 1978, beating John Smoltz in Game Five.

The 1997 campaign was Pettitte’s best in pinstripes from a statistical angle. He posted a 2.88 ERA in the burgeoning steroids era, racked up 7.2 fWAR, and finished fifth in the AL Cy Young voting. The Yankees would exit the postseason against Cleveland, though.

In 1998, however, the Yankees would start a three-year run of winning every World Series with Pettitte as one of their aces. That year, he won the last game of the Fall Classic with 7.1 scoreless frames against the Padres.

In those three years from 1998 to 2000 that resulted in three straight championships, Pettitte posted a rather underwhelming 4.42 ERA, but was always available and raised the team’s floor. He saved his best for October, when the lights shone brightest: his 3.26 postseason ERA over that span was key to every one of the championships that made up the Yankee dynasty.

As you can imagine, the southpaw was a huge part of the late-1990s, early-2000s rivalry with the Boston Red Sox. He earned a win in the unforgettable 2003 AL Championship Series, helping the Yanks advance to the World Series, where he contributed a minuscule 0.57 ERA in a losing effort.

He wasn’t a part of the squad that inexplicably lost four straight games in the 2004 ALCS because he joined Roger Clemens in Houston as both Yankee hurlers signed with the Astros. For Pettitte, it was a homecoming, and it allowed him to play a World Series in front of his people, even though they lost to the Chicago White Sox.

After three seasons with the Astros, Pettitte returned ahead of the 2007 campaign. In 2008, he witnessed the final act of the old Yankee Stadium, as the Yankees missed out on postseason baseball. They would return to the grand stage in 2009, though, as Pettitte helped them win the Fall Classic with a 4.16 regular-season ERA and an even better 3.56 postseason ERA.

Pettitte initially announced his retirement in February 2011, spending a year away from the game before coming back to wrap up his career with a solid 2012 (2.87 ERA) and 2013 (3.74 ERA).

He is, without a doubt, one of the most respected Yankees of all time. Nobody has won more postseason games than him, and he retired with a 3.81 ERA in the playoffs.

Pettitte finished his eighth season on the Hall of Fame ballot with 48.5 percent of votes, needing to reach at least 75 percent in two remaining attempts. Perhaps he doesn’t have the rate stats or individual awards to be a no-doubter member of the Hall, but he does have the legacy and the totals.

After his career, Pettitte has focused on becoming a baseball dad, but he did rejoin the Yankees in the summer of 2023 to be an advisor. He was also the pitching coach of Team USA in the 2023 and 2026 World Baseball Classics (WBC).

Yankees fans who grew up watching the team in the late 1990s and early-2000s certainly enjoyed the sight of Pettitte working from the left side of the mound. He was never rattled and always seemed in control of his emotions and situations. You don’t see that calm demeanor and the look of a silent assassin that he gave opposing batters very often these days.

Happy birthday, legend!

See more of the “Yankees Birthday of the Day” series here.