We’re back! 15 MLB games on the slate means nothing but action. All day too because we’re starting early with the Baltimore Orioles taking on the Minnesota Twins at 1:10pm ET on MLB Network. If you are in the St. Louis Cardinals/Chicago White Sox market, you will see them at 2:10pm ET. Everybody gets some form of day baseball which is only fair. All this action calls for a little action. Here are two of my favorite MLB player props for today.
Don’t forget to check what our MLB analysts have backed with side and total picks for all 15 games today/tonight. As always, bets can be added to the card so why not follow me on Twitter in case we get some last-second action? It makes sense.
Jorge Lopez Over 4.5 Strikeouts (+125)
Line available at DraftKings at time of publishing
I know this feels a little bit crazy. Reckless even. But there are a few things to like about Jorge Lopez today. And I am not just talking about that shiny +125 price tag either. He’s sporting a 23.9% strikeout rate this season which puts him out of the 4.5 range if you ask me.
Looking at Lopez’s starts this season and the goal becomes simple, just go five innings. He’s only done it three times but each time, he’s struck out at least five batters. To be fair, he struck out five in only 4.2 innings in his first start of the season so technically he doesn’t have to go five innings to get home. It would just be nice.
Our “out” for this just in case he can’t make it five frames is the Minnesota Twins. Over the last seven days, only one team in MLB has struck out more than they have. Their lineup is littered with guys striking out in the 30+% range and we even have two, Nelson Cruz and Miguel Sano, in the 40+% range. Lopez can get to five in four innings today if he can just keep the Twins off the score board.
This is one of my favorite MLB player props for today.
Be sure to check out our full game preview for Baltimore Orioles vs. Minnesota Twins.
Johnny Cueto Over 4.5 Strikeouts (+120)
Line available at DraftKings at time of publishing
© Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
There’s a lot of talk about Johnny Cueto being washed and it’s not really fair. Here’s the thing about Cueto, he was never really a power pitcher. In his best season he had at 25.2% strikeout rate. Right now he’s right at 20%. There’s still meat on this bone.
Obviously the number has to be right on him and today it is. Anytime you see a 4.5 at +120, it is worth a look. I wish he was in better form since he hasn’t hit this over in four starts, but those starts were against the Reds, Padres and Pirates. None of those teams are great targets for strikeouts. He also got to four in two of the starts so it’s not like he’s not getting close.
Tonight he gets the Arizona Diamondbacks who are bottom 10 in strikeouts in the last seven days. Over the last two weeks, they are sixth worst in whiffs. We’ll likely need Cueto to go deeper into this game so their MLB worst .567 OPS also should be noted. I think Cueto has a shot at six innings tonight and if he makes it that far, he should get five guys to sit down.
This is one of my favorite MLB player props of the night.
Be sure to check out our full game preview for San Francisco Giants vs. Arizona Diamondbacks.
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