Best Bets on Today’s MLB Player Props Market
The 2023 MLB season is underway and VSiN has you covered with every way you can possibly bet on a baseball game. As always, Adam Burke will have daily best bets to give you some ideas of what to back when it comes to moneylines, run lines and totals. However, I’m tackling player props here, and I’m targeting Kyle Freeland, Nestor Cortes and Dylan Cease on Monday, May 8th. Keep reading to find out how I’m betting on each of them.
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MORE: Check out our Pro Picks page for everything our experts have on May 8
Here are our favorite MLB prop bets for Monday, May 8th:
Colorado Rockies at Pittsburgh Pirates (-170, 8)
Kyle Freeland is a much better pitcher than people realize. The lefty is one of the few starters that has found a way to look good while playing half his games inside hitter-friendly Coors Field. And when Freeland goes on the road, he generally gets to show the world just how good he’d be outside of Colorado.
Freeland isn’t exactly a guy that misses a lot of bats. He just does a very good job of pitching to contact, and the lefty generally avoids big mistakes. However, it is a little wild to see his strikeout total down at 3.5 tonight. Freeland struck out six batters in his most recent road start, which happened to come against the Philadelphia Phillies. He’s also coming off a game in which he struck out five batters against the Milwaukee Brewers at Coors Field.
Freeland did get shelled by this Pirates team in Colorado earlier in the year, but he should flip things around on the road. It’ll just be shocking if he doesn’t strike out four batters here.
Bet: Freeland Over 3.5 Strikeouts (-145)
Oakland Athletics at New York Yankees (-200, 8.5)
Nestor Cortes hasn’t been quite as nasty as he was in 2022. The lefty is coming off a game in which he got lit up by the Texas Rangers, as Cortes gave up seven earned runs in only 4.2 innings of work on April 30th. Cortes also gave up three homers in that game, and that marked the second time in four games that the lefty gave up multiple homers.
Cortes does have a good matchup in this game, on paper. The Athletics are the worst team in baseball this season, by far. However, Oakland has actually done a decent job of hitting lefties, with the Athletics being 14th in the league in wRC+ against southpaws. Considering the league average mark, it doesn’t seem crazy to think that Oakland can score three runs on Cortes here. Cortes has allowed at least three earned runs in each of his last three starts. Now, the lefty heads back to Yankee Stadium, which can be pretty friendly for opposing hitters.
It’s just hard to lay off this play at +130 odds. We’ll probably find some situations to bet on Cortes this year, but we’re fading him while he’s struggling.
Bet: Cortes Over 2.5 Earned Runs Allowed (+130)
Chicago White Sox (-135, 8.5) at Kansas City Royals
The Royals have the seventh-highest strikeout rate in the league against right-handed pitching this season, making this a fantastic get-right opportunity for Dylan Cease. The 27-year-old has given up 10 earned runs over his last two starts, and he just hasn’t looked like the ace people have expected this season. But we all know Cease has the stuff, and this game just might help him turn things around.
Cease has struck out at least six batters in four of his seven starts this year. However, his total is down at 5.5 in this one. With that in mind, how can you not play Cease to strike out at least six batters again on Monday? Not only does this seem like a great play at -140 odds, but it might be worth hitting some alternates for him to strike out even more hitters.
Bet: Cease Over 5.5 Strikeouts (-140)
Did you know that you can parlay these three picks together at +566 odds? Try out our VSiN Parlay Calculator HERE!
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