In theory, today’s Major League Baseball slate is supposed to have 10 games, but weather (especially in the anticipated Mets-Braves series) did not cooperate.
For nearly all of today’s starting pitchers, especially those on teams eliminated from playoff contention, this is likely to be their last start of the regular season. Thus, bettors will have to decide what pitchers are going to leave it all out there or what organizations will plan a little more carefully as they head into a long offseason. As such, today’s MLB player prop wagers involve one pitcher and one batter prop from a smaller slate.
Read on for our top MLB player prop bets and picks for Thursday, September 26.
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Thursday's Best MLB Player Prop Bets
(MLB player prop bet odds courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook)
William Contreras Over 0.5 RBIs (+135)
While it is most likely that the Milwaukee Brewers end up with the No. 3 seed in the NL playoffs, catching the Phillies for the No. 2 seed is technically not out of the question. As such, the Brewers will likely trot out their best lineup today, including William Contreras, even if he is in a DH role and not catching in a day game after a night game.
Contreras has been red hot of late, entering Wednesday slashing .353/.450/.529 over the last seven days, and .359/.469/.590 over the previous 15. He had 10 RBIs in the last 15 days entering Wednesday, with five of his 14 hits in that span going for extra bases.
Contreras has a 1.275 OPS in 13 career at-bats against Pirates righty Mitch Keller. And even if he doesn’t plate himself with a home run as he has done twice against Keller in his career, there should be plenty of traffic on the basepaths, as Keller has allowed a combined .321/.375/.566 slash line in 84 at-bats against current Brewers hitters, with 11 of the 27 hits allowed going for extra bases.
Michael Wacha to record a win (+100)
Royals righty Michael Wacha is not one for no-decisions, as he has received a decision of some sort in 11 of his previous 14 starts. Nine of those decisions in that span have been wins, including five wins in his previous eight outings.
Through that impressive 14-start stretch, Wacha leads all Royals starters with a 2.70 ERA, and has pitched to a .285 BABIP while allowing fewer than one home run per nine innings. Also in that span, Wacha has a Stuff+/Location+/Pitching+ line of 91/102/100, and he has induced soft contact 21.2% of the time, making him the only Royals starter with a better than 19.0% soft contact rate in that timeframe.
The Royals are in a heated battle with two other AL Central teams and the Seattle Mariners to lock down one of the final wild card spots, and that should have them playing with a sense of urgency against a Nationals team that has been eliminated from playoff contention for quite some time. Kansas City is 7-3 in Wacha’s last 10 starts, and should provide him with enough run support to earn a victory when facing Patrick Corbin, who ranks in the fourth percentile or worse in xERA, xBA, and hard-hit rate allowed.
Mike Spector is a featured writer at BettingPros. For more from Mike, check out his archive and follow him @MikeSpector01.