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 June 1. 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!
Monday Player Prop Best Bets
Below you’ll find my official plays on the player prop market for Monday. 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.
Chase Burns Over 6.5 Strikeouts (-132) vs. Royals
Royals at Reds – 7:10 pm ET
The Royals are a middle-of-the-pack team when it comes to avoiding Ks, as they have a 22.0% strikeout rate against righties this season. Well, as long as Burns isn’t going up against a team that is great at making contact, he’s a pretty good bet to reach seven strikeouts. The righty is averaging 6.5 strikeouts per game this season, and three very poor outings are skewing those numbers heavily. Burns actually comes into this one having struck out at least seven hitters in three straight games, and he has also done so in six of the last seven. So, while I don’t like to deal with too much juice, this feels worth the squeeze.
Michael McGreevy Over 3.5 Strikeouts (-103 – 1.5 units) & Alt Strikeouts 5+ (+233 – 0.5 units) vs. Rangers
Rangers at Cardinals – 7:45 pm ET
McGreevy is coming off a six-strikeout outing against the Brewers. This isn’t a pitcher with electric swing-and-miss stuff, but he can take advantage of the right matchups. Well, this looks like a good one for the righty. This season, Texas has a strikeout rate of 22.9%, while also having a miserable 27.2% whiff percentage. With that in mind, I’ll take my chances with McGreevy to strike out at least four batters, and I’ll also sprinkle him to finish with 5+ Ks. He’s averaging 3.9 strikeouts per game this year, but that goes up to 4.8 when facing an opponent that’s in the league’s bottom 10 in whiff percentage. The Rangers are comfortably down there.
TJ Rumfield Over 1.5 Hits + Runs + RBIs (+115) vs. Angels
Rockies at Angels – 9:38 pm ET
This season, Rumfield is averaging 2.0 combined hits, runs, and RBIs per game when facing right-handed pitching, and he’s one of the few Rockies sluggers that doesn’t tail off completely outside of Coors Field. In road games against righties, Rumfield is still averaging 1.6 HRR per game, making him an intriguing plus-money option against the Angels tonight. These will still be hitter-friendly conditions in Anaheim, and facing Jose Soriano isn’t as intimidating as it was earlier in the season. The righty has allowed at least six hits in four of his last five games, and he has been completely beatable in most of his recent outings. Los Angeles also happens to have the third-highest bullpen ERA (5.08) in baseball, so Rumfield will have his chances when he gets to the relievers too. Let’s just hope he plays tonight. He’s a little banged up.
Additional Picks
Riley Greene Over 1.5 Hits + Runs + RBIs (+125) vs. Rays
Sandy Alcantara Over 3.5 Strikeouts (-155) vs. Nationals
Ketel Marte Over 1.5 Hits + Runs + RBIs (-120) vs. Dodgers
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.
Luinder Avila Over 3.5 Strikeouts (+110) vs. Reds
Our OptaAI player prop projections have him going for 5.02 strikeouts, suggesting these odds should be -281 — a +26.1% edge to the Over.
Rafael Devers Over 1.5 Total Bases (+172) vs. Brewers
Our OptaAI player prop projections have him finishing with 1.96 total bases, suggesting these odds should be -139 — a +21.4% edge to the Over.
Kerry Carpenter Over 1.5 Total Bases (+161) vs. Rays
Our OptaAI player prop projections have him projected for 1.99 total bases, suggesting these odds should be -145 — a +20.8% edge to the Over.
