Player props can be useful in a variety of ways -- from taking advantage of them straight up (to the tune of cold hard cash) to measuring a player's potential to produce in daily fantasy baseball on FanDuel. Here, we're going to focus on the former.
Utilizing our projections as a guide and looking at the odds provided at FanDuel Sportsbook, here are some spots where you can find value today in the prop-betting market.
Here are some MLB player prop bets to make tonight.
Please note that betting lines and our game projections may change throughout the day after this article is published. Also, the weather may be an issue in some locations.
Freddie Freeman To Record an RBI (+105)
The Los Angeles Dodgers have a slate-high 5.28 implied team total and a solid matchup for player props.
Whenever an offense is projected to score this many runs, we want to be looking for some plus-money player props. That's what we have with Freddie Freeman to record an RBI.
The Dodgers are taking on Ryne Nelson, who made his MLB debut last week and has a total of seven innings pitched. To say this is a small sample size wouldn't even get the point across, but you get the idea.
In these situations, I side with the veteran and proven hitter over the rookie pitcher with less than a dozen innings in the MLB.
Freeman comes in with a 168 wRC+, .411 wOBA, .211 ISO, 36.4% fly-ball rate, and 39.7% hard-contact rate versus right-handed pitchers. Freeman is elite in every area and should be able to knock in some runs in this one.
Spencer Strider Over 7.5 Strikeouts (+102)
Spencer Strider is good -- really freaking good.
The rookie comes in with an insane 38.1% strikeout rate this season, which is the highest of any pitcher in the MLB with at least 120 innings pitched. He's also rocking a 15.5% swinging-strike rate, which is well above the league average (11.3%).
He's been unbelievable this season -- there's no other way to say it. He comes in with 9 or more strikeouts in four of his last eight starts, including performances of 13 and 16 strikeouts in that span.
Tonight, Strider is taking on the San Francisco Giants, who own a 23.3% strikeout rate versus right-handed pitchers, which is the ninth-worst in the league.
Not only are they in the bottom 10 of the league in punchouts in the split, but the Giants have been particularly bad as of late. In the last 30 days, the Giants have a 26.8% strikeout rate versus righties, which is the worst in the league. In the last 14 days, the Giants have a 27.5% strikeout rate in this split, which is the third-worst in the league.
Yes, please.
The Giants have gotten worse as the season has gone on, and they now face one of the best pitchers in the league. With that said, it's reasonable to add Strider 9+ Strikeouts (+158).