MLB Picks for Saturday, April 11: Time for the Mets to Make Moves
Written by: Danny Burke
Last Update: Sat Apr 11, 2026, 11:14 pm ET
Read Time: 4 minutes
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What's going on, everybody? It's a beautiful Saturday in April, with The Masters rolling, NBA and NHL playoff races heating up, and, of course, the MLB season in full swing.
We're coming off a Friday night sweep on the diamond, going 3-0 with our baseball plays. That brings us to a record of 22-13-1, up +8.92 units. Let's keep the momentum rolling today with my pair of MLB picks for Saturday, April 11.
MLB Picks for Saturday, April 11
Arizona Diamondbacks vs Philadelphia Phillies
Let's kick things off in the City of Brotherly Love, where the Phillies and Diamondbacks are set for an early first pitch at 1:05 PM ET.
Taijuan Walker gets the nod for the home club and, man, he's not someone they're exactly thrilled to be sending out to the bump.
Walker has given up 17 hits, 10 earned runs and five walks through two starts this season. His ERA sits at 9.31, with a 7.49 FIP. His BABIP is .368, he owns a 2.28 WHIP and has just a 2% strikeout-to-walk ratio.
It's early, but those numbers are brutal and not too far off from what we've seen from the right-hander in the past. In fact, Walker hasn't posted an xFIP below 4.73 since 2022, when he was with the New York Mets.
If there's a pitcher for this D'Backs lineup to come alive against, it's most definitely Walker.
On the flip side, Arizona sends fellow righty Brandon Pfaadt to the mound. Through two starts, he's also struggled, allowing eight earned runs on 12 hits while posting a 6.75 ERA and a 4.37 xFIP.
He also has an alarmingly low 4.4% strikeout-to-walk ratio, a high 1.41 WHIP, and will be facing a lethal Phillies lineup that ranks top 10 in ISO, OPS and wRC+ against righties this season.
The wind is blowing in from left-center field, but that shouldn't be much of a concern given how prone these starters are to allowing quality contact. Both teams should still manage to get frequent runners on base and create plenty of scoring opportunities.
Pick: Diamondbacks / Phillies Over 8.5 Runs (-110)
Athletics vs New York Mets
The Mets enter Saturday on a three-game skid, which includes a 4-0 loss to the Athletics on Friday night.
That victory marked the third straight for the A's.
I expect that streak to conclude today.
The Athletics will turn to southpaw Jacob Lopez, and his numbers have been dreadful. He owns a 6.48 ERA and a 7.45 xFIP, has walked 10 batters while striking out just six, and now faces a Mets lineup which includes top-10 rankings in ISO (.176), OPS (.717) and wRC+ (109) against lefties this season.
New York should enter this game with a bit more motivation than usual, and they get an extremely favorable pitching matchup to help.
On the other side, the Mets hand the ball to right-hander Kodai Senga.
He hasn't allowed a home run yet and is posting a 3.09 ERA with a 1.69 FIP and a 23.4% strikeout-to-walk ratio.
This is exactly the type of arm you want on the mound to help snap a losing streak.
Look for the Mets to get back into a rhythm and not only win, but cover the run line.
Pick: Mets -1.5 (+140)
MLB Picks:
MLB Record: 22-13-1 (+8.92 units)
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Danny Burke is a betting analyst with a decade of sports media experience. He got his start at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, sharing picks on the local ESPN affiliate. After college, he hosted shows for VSiN in Las Vegas before returning to Chicago to launch 'Rush Hour', the first daily sports betting show from an Illinois casino. He also co-hosted 'Props and Locks' on Fox32’s Bears pregame show and ran 'Bet On, Chicago' on WLS-AM 890.
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