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 19. 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.
Tarik Skubal Over 6.5 Strikeouts (-102) vs. White Sox
White Sox at Tigers – 6:40 pm ET
Skubal only had four strikeouts in his return to the mound on June 13, but that doesn’t bother me very much. If anything, we’re now getting a better price because of it, and I’ll welcome that with the best pitcher in baseball any day of the week. As long as Skubal has the runway to throw 90 or so pitches, he’ll always have a shot at reaching the seven-K mark. That’s especially true when looking at a matchup with the White Sox, who have a 24.0% strikeout rate and 27.7% whiff percentage.
Cam Schlittler Over 6.5 Strikeouts (-130) vs. Reds
Reds at Yankees – 7:05 pm ET
This season, Schlittler is averaging 6.4 strikeouts per game as he makes his bid for the AL Cy Young. Schlittler has also gone Over 6.5 strikeouts in eight of his 15 starts. Tonight, Schlittler gets to face a Cincinnati team that has the second-highest strikeout rate (24.4%) and fifth-highest whiff percentage (26.6%) in MLB. This is as good of a matchup as Schlittler can possibly ask for. If there’s any reason to worry, it’s that Schlittler hasn’t been as reliable with his swing-and-miss stuff at home. I’ll still take my chances.
Nick Kurtz Over 1.5 Total Bases (+105) vs. Angels
Angels at Athletics – 9:40 pm ET
Jose Soriano started the season off extremely well, but he has really cooled down lately. With that in mind, I’m treating this as the Athletics just facing a righty, not facing an ace. Well, do you know who likes to hit righties? That would be Kurtz. The lefty slugger looks like a star for the Athletics right now, and he’s averaging 1.9 total bases per game when facing right-handed starters this year. That said, give me Kurtz to have at least two total bases in a home game against the Angels. This is a hitter-friendly ball park, setting up nicely for a big night.
Additional Picks
Ben Brown Over 15.5 Outs (-118) vs. Blue Jays
Kevin Gausman Over 5.5 Strikeouts (-110) vs. Cubs
Cade Cavalli Under 15.5 Outs (-114) vs. Rays
Martin Perez Over 3.5 Strikeouts (-122) vs. Brewers
Brandon Nimmo Over 1.5 Hits + Runs + RBIs (-105) vs. Padres
Travis Bazzana Over 1.5 Hits + Runs + RBIs (-118) vs. Astros
Bryan Reynolds Over 1.5 Total Bases (-135) vs. Rockies
Julio Rodriguez Over 1.5 Hits + Runs + RBIs (-110) vs. Red Sox
Roki Sasaki Over 5.5 Strikeouts (-145) vs. Orioles
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.
Jose Siri Over 0.5 Hits + Runs + RBIs (-136) vs. Athletics
Our OptaAI player prop projections have him going for 1.77 hits, runs, and RBIs, suggesting these odds should be -486 — a +25.3% edge to the Over.
Davis Schneider Over 0.5 Hits + Runs + RBIs (-105) vs. Cubs
Our OptaAI player prop projections have him finishing with 1.39 hits, runs, and RBIs, suggesting these odds should be -303 — a +24.0% edge to the Over.
Edwin Arroyo Over 0.5 Hits + Runs + RBIs (-141) vs. Yankees
Our OptaAI player prop projections have him projected for 1.66 hits, runs, and RBIs, suggesting these odds should be -427 — a +22.5% edge to the Over.
