MLB Picks & Predictions for Wednesday, May 20: Bibee Bounce Back?

Danny Burke

Written by: Danny Burke

Last Update: Thu May 21, 2026, 9:32 am ET

Read Time: 3 minutes

Bibee

mlb

Cleveland Guardians logo
FINAL
Detroit Tigers logo

Cleveland Guardians

3

Detroit Tigers

2
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Well, yesterday was a brutal 0-2 outing on the diamond, and today appears to be a good day for a bounce-back.

Let's look to do just that with my MLB picks and predictions for Wednesday, May 20.

MLB Picks & Predictions for Wednesday, May 20

Tanner Bibee Over 4.5 Strikeouts (-130)

The Cleveland Guardians are riding a four-game win streak and are aiming to make that five with right-hander Tanner Bibee grabbing the rubber.

He's coming off a seven-hit, three-run outing against the Reds, which wasn't terrible by any means, but the concerning part was seeing him record only two strikeouts. That marked his lowest total of the season. In the start prior, he punched out nine batters against the Twins, so the drop-off was a bit peculiar.

The good news is that he'll now face a Tigers lineup that owns a 22.7% strikeout rate against right-handed pitching over the past month, which ranks 22nd in baseball. Since the start of May, that number has climbed to 24.8%, ranking 26th in that span.

I'm expecting Bibee to dial back in and capitalize against a struggling Detroit lineup.

Los Angeles Dodgers vs San Diego Padres

What better way to conclude this NL West series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Diego Padres than for it to come down to a rubber match.

The Padres captured the first game in a narrow 1-0 victory, but it was the Dodgers who bounced back on Tuesday night in another slim win, 5-4.

Tonight, Shohei Ohtani gets the nod for the defending World Series champions, and to no one's surprise, he's been prolific.

Through seven starts, Ohtani has a 0.82 ERA, 2.32 expected ERA and a 2.39 FIP. He's also posting ridiculous numbers such as his .219 BABIP, 51% ground-ball rate, 91% left-on-base percentage and a sub-3.00 SIERA.

San Diego has been struggling a bit against right-handed pitching this month, posting an 80 wRC+ and a .633 OPS.

Meanwhile, the Dodgers are slowly starting to pick up form, hitting a 110 wRC+ with a .734 OPS during that span.

The righty they'll face is Randy Vasquez, who has also looked sharp with a 5-1 record and a 2.68 ERA. His expected ERA, however, sits at 4.80, while his xFIP resides at 3.88. Additionally, concerns hover around his high hard-hit rate of 44.4% and barrel rate of 11.3%.

The Dodgers have advantages in most departments tonight, and let's look for that to be reflected in the box score.

Pick: Dodgers Run Line -1.5 (+100)

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Danny Burke
Danny Burke

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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