Could scoring be the story of this Friday across baseball? Our MLB predictions for today feature more optimism in the bats than normal with some shaky pitchers taking the bump and a few offenses projecting better moving forward than what they’ve shown to date.
MLB Predictions for Friday, April 17
Orioles and Guardians Meet in Cleveland With Offensive Focus
These offenses have their fair share of warts. The Cleveland Guardians have the league’s lowest barrel rate and pair it with the highest average launch angle, a disastrous combination. On the other side, we have a Baltimore Orioles squad that has lost three straight games for the second time in this young season. Yesterday’s 4-2 loss featured the Orioles being no-hit through eight innings.
Offenses are streaky in 2026; it’s part of the three-true-outcome era. The best way to break out of slumps is through contact and loud contact. Chris Bassitt is averaging less than one strikeout every two innings this season, and Tanner Bibee’s barrel rate continues to spike. Both of these teams swing at an above-average rate and clearly have game-wreckers capable of turning a minor rally into a crooked number.
Both Bassitt and Bibee have been demolished with runners on base this season. Their cumulative OPS allowed with men on last season hovered around .800, so it’s not as if this is a new flaw. We saw sparks early via a Jose Ramirez home run and late with RBIs from both Pete Alonso and Gunnar Henderson yesterday from the top-shelf talent. If they get any support against these vulnerable pitchers, this shouldn’t be a sweat late.
Mets at Cubs: Cubs -1.5
Edward Cabrera hasn’t pitched well against the New York Mets in his career, posting a 5.09 ERA and 1.70 WHIP with 35 strikeouts and 33 walks in 40 2/3 innings over 10 starts. However, all that happened before joining the Chicago Cubs this season. Cabrera is a different pitcher now and has been Chicago’s ace, posting a 1.62 ERA and 1.14 WHIP with 13 strikeouts and nine walks in 16 2/3 innings over three starts.
The Mets’ offense has been awful so far, Juan Soto is still out with a calf strain, and Kodai Senga is 0-2 with a 7.07 ERA, 1.71 WHIP, and 19:7 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 14 innings across three starts this season. Senga has a 4.09 ERA and 1.82 WHIP with 12 strikeouts and seven walks in 11 innings over two career starts against the Cubs.
Backing the Cubs with Cabrera is the clear direction here, given how well he’s pitched to open the season compared to Senga’s struggles and the current state of the Mets’ offense.
What to Expect in Dodgers vs. Rockies at Coors Field
The Los Angeles Dodgers are the best team in the majors and currently boast the best offense by a wide margin. The fact that this game will be played at Coors Field should inflate those numbers even more. As for the Colorado Rockies, they are also a unit that has shown some promise on offense despite their inconsistencies. Returning to the altitude conditions in Coors Field should make them an even more dangerous team.
The pitching matchup should be extremely favorable for the Dodgers, as they’ll send ace Tyler Glasnow to the mound against Tomoyuki Sugano. Even though Sugano has been pitching better than anyone expected, it is hard to see him thrive against the Dodgers’ lineup. Sugano has a 2.16 ERA through 16 2/3 innings in 2026, and a 0.78 WHIP suggests his low ERA is a fair reflection of how good he’s been.
However, Sugano had a 4.64 ERA with the Orioles in 2025, and pitching at Coors Field shouldn’t do him any favors, especially against the Dodgers’ elite offense. With both offenses expected to thrive in a favorable hitting environment, don’t be surprised if the Dodgers come out on top in a high-scoring contest. Despite the fact that both Glasnow and Sugano have WHIPs below 1.00, both are bound to regress in a park that often inflates the numbers of even the best pitchers in the game.
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