Player props have become one of baseball’s most entertaining ways to bet, offering value well beyond the moneyline, run line, or game total. Each day, this column highlights the best opportunities on the board — from strikeouts and hits to total bases and pitcher outs recorded — using matchup data, recent form, and betting trends to identify edges. Keep reading for the top MLB player prop picks for August 28. Also, make sure you check out our live VSiN programming for more. Our hosts and analysts will be all over the MLB, which is why it pays to be a VSiN Pro subscriber.
MORE: Check out the VSiN Pro Picks page for more bets from our talented hosts and analysts!
Friday Player Prop Best Bets
Below you’ll find my official plays on the player prop market for Friday. These are the ones that make the VSiN Pro Picks page and count towards my season-long record. I’ll write three up per day, but I’ll add additional ones in an “Additional Best Bets” section. I go lighter on baseball than I do other sports. My MLB units are 50% of what my normal units are.
Cam Schlittler Over 6.5 Strikeouts (-119) vs. Red Sox
Red Sox at Yankees – 7:15 pm ET
Schlittler only had four strikeouts in his last start, but he’s averaging 7.1 strikeouts per game this season. He also had nine strikeouts against this Red Sox team on June 25. Of course, Boston has been one of the best teams in baseball at avoiding strikeouts since generally morphing into one of the better teams in baseball. However, when Schlittler is available with a total of 6.5 and it isn’t heavily juiced, it feels like we have to jump on it.
Matt Olson Over 1.5 Total Bases (+100) vs. Rockies
Rockies at Braves – 7:15 pm ET
Olson is averaging 2.1 total bases per game against righties this season, and that number goes up to 2.4 at Truist Park. He just hasn’t slowed down against right-handed pitching, and he gets a shaky righty in Tomoyuki Sugano tonight. Sugano comes into this game with a 4.96 ERA, and that ERA only goes down to 4.91 away from Coors Field. I don’t see him slowing down this Atlanta lineup, and Olson should make him pay for any mistakes.
Quinn Mathews Over 5.5 Strikeouts (+104 – 1.5 units) & Alt Strikeouts 7+ (+261 – 0.5 units) vs. Pirates
Pirates at Cardinals – 8:15 pm ET
Mathews only had three strikeouts in his last outing, but we did see him rack up seven Ks against the Reds on August 17. This southpaw should be capable of missing bats against poorly disciplined teams, and that certainly describes the Pirates. Against lefties, Pittsburgh has the highest strikeout rate (25.9%) and whiff percentage (28.6%) in baseball. That’s why I’m going a little bigger on Mathews, plus I’m also playing an alternate Over.
Additional Picks
David Peterson Over 4.5 Strikeouts (-138) vs. Reds
Shohei Ohtani Over 1.5 Total Bases (+113) vs. Tigers
Shane McClanahan Over 4.5 Strikeouts (+118) vs. Padres
Cody Bradford Over 3.5 Strikeouts (-104) vs. Brewers
Noteworthy OptaAI Player Prop Edges
Check out the BRAND NEW OptaAI Player Props MLB pages for more of these! VSiN Pro subscribers can find 50+ player prop ideas on a daily basis! We’ll list the top edges in some of the biggest markets below, but there will always be a lot more to uncover on the pages themselves.
Andrew Knizner Over 0.5 Hits + Runs + RBIs (-152) vs. Diamondbacks
Our OptaAI player prop projections have him finishing with 1.89 hits, runs, and RBIs, suggesting these odds should be -563 — a +24.6% edge to the Over.
Eduardo Valencia Over 0.5 Hits + Runs + RBIs (-144) vs. Dodgers
Our OptaAI player prop projections have him finishing with 1.78 hits, runs, and RBIs, suggesting these odds should be -492 — a +24.1% edge to the Over.
Taylor Trammell Over 0.5 Hits + Runs + RBIs (-124) vs. Mets
Our OptaAI player prop projections have him finishing with 1.54 hits, runs, and RBIs, suggesting these odds should be -365 — a +23.1% edge to the Over.
