Baseball
MLB Wild Card Predictions & Betting Tips (2025)
The 2025 MLB Wild-Card Series get underway on Tuesday, starting with the Cleveland Guardians hosting the Detroit Tigers.
Read here for our top baseball betting tips for this week’s matchups:
Tigers @ Guardians
Cleveland beat the Tigers five times in six December matchups. Riding an elite bullpen and with a surging offense, the Guards pipped the Tigers to the divisional title and earned home-field advantage for this series in the process.
Tarik Skubal starting Game 1 gives Detroit the edge, but the Cy Young favourite hasn’t been as unhittable down the stretch. Detroit’s bullpen has also been a weakness in recent weeks, with a bottom-seven ERA in September.
Home-field advantage could make all the difference for Cleveland in this series. Their roster isn’t as strong as Detroit’s on paper, but no team is entering the playoffs with better form than the Guards.
Tip: Guardians win the series (10/11)
Red Sox @ Yankees
Garrett Crochet has excelled against the Yankees in 2025. The hard-throwing southpaw gets the ball for Game 1 of this series. The rest of Boston’s rotation is less threatening for the Yankees, but there’s a good chance New York will have to come back from behind if they are to progress to the ALDS.
New York’s offence has been markedly better than Boston’s in September. The Red Sox, though, have the more reliable bullpen. Boston needs to keep the Yankees’ lineup under control and hope these games are decided in the late innings.
The Red Sox should be able to take one of the first two games to force this series to a Game 3, seeing as they won nine of the 13 regular-season meetings.
Tip: Series to go three games (19/20)
Reds @ Dodgers
The Reds’ journey to the playoffs was a dramatic one, sneaking past the Mets on the final day of the regular season. Cincinnati rode a strong rotation and a decent bullpen to make the playoffs, but they have the hardest of the wild-card opponents.
Los Angeles is giving the ball to Blake Snell, Shohei Ohtani, and Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Their offence is stacked. The bullpen is the only real weakness, which might be where the Reds can snatch a late win at Dodger Stadium.
In all likelihood, though, the Dodgers wrap this series up in two games. Hunter Greene gives the Reds a chance in Game 1, but he needs to be almost perfect to get the better of Snell.
Tip: Dodgers win 2-0 (23/20)
Padres @ Cubs
This is the most closely matched of the three wild-card series on paper. San Diego has an excellent bullpen. Chicago’s relief corps has been less consistent during the regular season, but the Cubs have a lineup capable of causing this Padres’ pitching staff problems.
The absence of Cade Horton is a big blow for the Cubs, leaving a TBA in the Game 2 starter slot behind Matthew Boyd. San Diego, meanwhile, will be confident in Nick Pivetta for the series opener, but doesn’t know what to expect from the up-and-down Dylan Cease.
Wrigley Field should host a winner-takes-all game on Thursday.
Tip: Series to go three games (17/20)
*Odds subject to change – prices accurate at the time of writing*
