The opening days of the 2026 MLB season have been an absolute blast to watch, and as we roll into the second week of action on the diamond, there are plenty of games for fans and bettors alike to choose from.

On Monday night in the late window, the Cleveland Guardians (2-2) head to Los Angeles to take on the Dodgers (3-0). It’s a story of David vs. Goliath that certainly favors one team over the other given the nature of both lineups and their respective payrolls, but the beauty of this sport is that anything can happen on any given night.

Come fight the Monday blues with us! Here’s a betting prediction and pick for tonight’s Guardians vs. Dodgers matchup courtesy of MLB odds and lines on DraftKings Sportsbook.

Guardians vs. Dodgers prediction, preview

The Guardians made the postseason in 2025 with a surge over the second half of the campaign, and now they look to get back to the playoffs once again. They split the opening series of 2026 2-2 with the Seattle Mariners, and while an ugly 8-0 shutout did ruin the vibes to close things out, there were a couple of positives to glean. The biggest storyline by far was Chase DeLauter, the 24-year-old who debuted last postseason and has now started his first regular season by going 6-for-17 with four home runs. He’s been at the center of the production for a lineup with 13 runs in its four matchups, with the team slashing a combined .195/.262/.338. The biggest weakness of the Guardians thus far? A 32.4% K% that ranks third worst in the MLB, but obviously, it’s very early. Jose Ramirez and Steven Kwan are bound to get rolling eventually though, so there’s no reason to panic while the bats heat up. The pitching staff has more reason to worry though, giving up eight home runs in four games with a high K% at 28.6%, but also an elevated BB% at 13.6%. Not a great way to start the year, now is it?

Out in the National League, the Dodgers went a perfect 3-0 to open their own season after taking all three games over the Arizona Diamondbacks. That was expected given the massive payroll of the back-to-back World Series champs, especially after adding Kyle Tucker to their embarrassment of riches over the offseason. They’re scoring over five runs a game through the first three outings with a slash line of .222/.320/.422, but the interesting part is a .200 ISO that ranks fifth in the MLB after hammering five deep balls along with a league-high hard-hit rate of 46.7%. The Dodgers are driving the baseball already, which doesn’t come as a shock to anyone. However, an 0.73 K/BB ratio ranks third best in the sport and is a little more surprising. Oh, and did we mention that Shohei Ohtani is just 1-for-8 at the plate to start the season? The pitching staff holds a 2.67 ERA that ranks sixth to go along with the fourth-best WHIP at 0.89 and the second-lowest BB% at just 5.0%. Los Angeles is scary so far.

On the mound for Cleveland is lefty Parker Messick, who threw just seven starts in his debut campaign last season. He amassed an impressive 2.72 ERA with a 1.31 WHIP, punching out 38 hitters in 39.2 innings. While he didn’t qualify for most grades per Baseball Savant’s advanced metrics due to sample size, he would’ve been in very high percentiles for BB%, barrel rate, hard-hit rate and more.

The Dodgers will roll out righty Roki Sasaki, who threw just 10 games for Los Angeles last season with eight starts. He ended with a 4.46 ERA and 1.43 WHIP, striking out 28 hitters in 36.1 innings of work. it was a pretty uninspiring result, all things considered, but he brings nice velocity with a 96.1 MPH average on the fastball. He had some serious command issues in Spring Training though, which we’ll work with for out best bet.

Guardians vs. Dodgers pick, best bet

DraftKings Sportsbook lists the Dodgers as -199 Moneyline favorites at home this evening, while the Guardians hold +163 odds to win outright. The run total sits at an even nine.

Best Bet: Roki Sasaki over 1.5 walks allowed (-174)

The odds probably won’t do much for you at -174 unless you use this pick as a builder in a parlay, but there’s a ton of reason to feel bullish about a cash tonight. Sasaki allowed 15 walks in Spring Training. Now guess how many innings he pitched. Don’t look it up! No, it wasn’t 15-20 as you probably expected. It was 8.2. Again, he gave up 15 walks in 8.2 innings of work. The recent form is capital B Bad. You get it, but for the record, he had a 13.7% BB% last season as well. Command is not his strong suit.

Strong Lean: CLE Guardians +1.5 (-126)

Maybe things get dangerous for Cleveland with a young pitcher out there against such a star-studded lineup, but Los Angeles’ hurler isn’t particularly formidable. After the Guardians competed with the Mariners in their last series with two wins and a cover at +1.5, I like their chances to keep things feisty this evening on the road.