Sunday’s slate has the best pitcher in baseball, the former best pitcher in baseball, and the pitchers in the best form early in the season all taking the mound in what could be an interesting day.
Our MLB predictions detail not only the hot start from Jose Soriano but lean into a bet against Tarik Skubal, something that has been essentially a death sentence recently.
MLB Predictions for Sunday, April 12
Marlins at Tigers: Miami to Win the First Three Innings
Did I wake up today with the intention to step in front of the Skubal bus? I did not.
Sandy Alcantara, however, has been that good, and we get our money back if this thing is scoreless through three, an outcome that is very much in play. If you want to pay the juice for +0.5 runs, I wouldn’t talk you off of it.
After missing all of 2024, Miami’s righty had his struggles in 2025, but they all stemmed from limited stamina. He posted a 5.36 ERA in 31 starts despite finding success early in games.
He is beginning to put the full puzzle back together this season, and that means he is close to unhittable when executing the pregame plan in the early innings. Opponents have had very little success against him early in games this season.
That is dominance that even Skubal has to be impressed with. He has drastically reduced the curveball in his repertoire, and part of that usage has been moved to a slider that has traditionally been a plus-pitch for Alcantara. Combine that with the fact that the Tigers have struggled against sliders this year, and that stage is set for a duel in Detroit.
I don’t want to fully step in front of the best pitcher in the sport, but if we shrink the sample size and acknowledge that a significant portion of the homers hit off of Skubal since the beginning of last season have come on his first trip through the order, I don’t mind chasing the plus-money in the early innings of this one.
Angels at Reds: Los Angeles -1.5
Jose Soriano has been unreal this season; he is 3-0 with a microscopic 0.45 ERA, 0.65 WHIP, and a strong xERA. Soriano has 21 strikeouts through 20 innings of work and just six walks. He has also found success against the Reds in his career.
Andrew Abbott comes into this game with a 3.18 ERA, 1.41 WHIP, and a higher expected ERA. While he has pitched well in two of his three starts this season, he has zero wins to show for it, as Cincinnati’s weak offense has given him almost no support.
Soriano finished with a career-worst 4.26 ERA last season, so skepticism about how long he can keep his dominance is reasonable. That said, I’ll ride with Soriano until the wheels fall off. He will regress eventually, but I see him pitching well enough to get over a struggling Reds offense.
Guardians at Braves: Chris Sale Over 6.5 Strikeouts
Chris Sale has earned excellent results against the Guardians in the past, and the current Cleveland hitters have struggled against Sale in their careers.
Jose Ramirez has had moderate success, but the rest of the Guardians hitters are either unproven or have been unsuccessful against the star lefty, who will be pitching at home. It is easy to see why he is the odds-on favorite here.
Sale has a 3.94 ERA with 16 strikeouts through 16 innings in 2026, and his 0.88 WHIP suggests he has been even better than what his numbers seem to indicate. It is never a good idea to bet against an ace at home, and Sale should not have problems dominating the Guardians.
With at least six strikeouts in two of his three starts this season, the line of over 6.5 punchouts is a solid bet given Sale’s historical dominance against Cleveland.
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