Ahaan Rungta
Show Bio
The lengthy, tedious offseason is behind us and baseball is back. Throughout the season at Pickswise, I will help you navigate a sport with plenty of betting markets and provide you with value spots to bet every day for the next 7 months. These are my favorite MLB player prop bets for the 2024 MLB Opening Day, while you can also check out our MLB picks for today’s action.
Brandon Lowe (TB) Over 1.5 hits + runs + RBIs (+100)
Line available at DraftKings Sportsbook at time of publishing. Recommended 0.75u wager.
The Tampa Bay Rays start their season back at home, which is good news for one of the best home offenses in baseball from last season. They will face right-handed pitcher José Berríos, which is even better news for Brandon Lowe — who hits near the top of a Rays batting order that should see success against a starter that posted a 4.08 SIERA and worse worse splits against left-handed batters in 2023.
Lowe, himself, posted a stellar 125 wRC+ at home against right-handed pitchers last season. His strengths were against fastballs as he posted an upper-quartile run value/100 and HardHit% against both four-seamers and sinkers, which made up 48% of Berrios’ repertoire against left-handers in 2023.
The beauty of backing this market at plus money is that Lowe could cash this for us in many ways — multiple hits, an RBI hit of any sort, or even a hit and then getting driven in by someone else in the lineup.
Read our full Toronto Blue Jays vs Tampa Bay Rays predictions
Nolan Jones (COL) Over 1.5 hits + runs + RBIs (+110)
Line available at BetMGM Sportsbook at time of publishing. Recommended 0.75u wager.
There is nothing more fun during the marathon of an MLB season than buying low on elite players when the markets haven’t adjusted to their talent. The Arizona Diamondbacks open their season at home with Zac Gallen on the mound. Although Gallen is often one of the best pitchers in baseball, he showed signs of regression in the back half of the 2023 regular season and — more importantly — finished the year with a .302 wOBA yielded to left-handed hitters while throwing a heavy dose of four-seam fastballs.
Last year Nolan Jones was by far the best hitter in the Rockies’ lineup and posted a nuclear 152 wRC+ with a .298 ISO against right-handers outside of Coors Field. He was one of the best hitters in the league by run value against 4-seamers. All we need is for the Rockies’ lineup to show some heart and for the leader of the pack to be involved.
Lock in today’s MLB YRFI/NRFI best bets — our expert went 42-23 last season!
