Major League Baseball has a total of 11 games on the slate today, including a day-night doubleheader between the St. Louis Cardinals and Cincinnati Reds due to a rainout back in late May. The Detroit Tigers and Pittsburgh Pirates will meet at 7:00 p.m. ET in a nationally televised game on ESPN, too. There are no West Coast games, with the latest start time coming in the Los Angeles Dodgers and Colorado Rockies battle at 8:40 p.m. ET from Coors Field in Denver. Below are our top MLB player props for Monday, August 17th.
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Monday's Top MLB Player Props
(Odds courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook)
Shane McClanahan Over 12.5 Outs Recorded (-116)
Rays lefty Shane McClanahan will return from a stint on the 15-day injured list (IL) due to mid-back tightness, facing division rival Baltimore on Monday night. He worked three perfect innings for Triple-A Durham in a rehab start against Memphis on Tuesday last week, and it looked like he had shaken off what was previously ailing him.
McClanahan is not expected to return with any kind of pitch restriction, so this total is rather low for a pitcher of his caliber. Even if the Rays were limiting him to 70-80 pitches, he should still be able to make it through at least five innings without breaking a sweat.
The last time McClanahan faced the Orioles, he worked 5.1 scoreless innings. He went at least five innings in five of his previous starts prior to July 30th, when he left his outing against the Texas Rangers early after three innings due to a tight back.
Cristopher Sanchez 7+ Strikeouts (-159)
Another southpaw, Cristopher Sanchez, will take the ball in the series opener against the Miami Marlins at Citizens Bank Park at 6:40 p.m. ET in Philadelphia.
Sanchez enters this game with six or more strikeouts in three of his past five starts, including seven in six scoreless innings in St. Louis in his most recent start last Tuesday. He is a dominant 10-1 with a 1.41 ERA and 104 strikeouts across just 89.1 innings in 14 starts this season at The Vault.
The All-Star southpaw has yet to face the Marlins this season. Miami is 20th in the Majors with 1,017 strikeouts across 125 games, which isn’t terrible. But they’ll have their hands full with Sanchez, who will undoubtedly go deep into the game, racking up several punchouts along the way.
Jeff McNeill 2+ Hits + Runs + RBIs (-112)
Jeff McNeil of the A’s has been swinging the ball well in the month of August, to the tune of a .371 batting average (13-for-35) with two doubles, a home run and six RBIs across 11 games. He’ll look to keep things going in a positive direction as the A’s hit the road for Kansas City on Monday.
The Royals will be using righty Michael Wacha, the Kansas City pitcher McNeil has seen the most of anybody on its staff. While it isn’t a huge sample size, McNeil is 4-for-9 (.444) with a double, two RBIs and a 1.101 OPS against the veteran. On a light slate of games Monday, this is one of the better values among hitters.
Ezequiel Tovar 2+ Hits + Runs + RBIs (+145)
The light-hitting Ezequiel Tovar has managed just a .208 batting average this season, and he is facing Dodgers lefty Blake Snell, who he is just 2-for-11 (.182) against in his career, with a double, a solo home run and six strikeouts.
Tovar has struggled versus the veteran southpaw in their brief dealings, and he is hitting just .208 overall. However, the 25-year-old Venezuelan has shown some signs of life at the plate in August, hitting a solid .324 (12-for-37) with two doubles, a home run and three RBIs, while scoring seven runs.
At plus-money odds, Tovar is worth a roll of the dice. When he makes contact off Snell, the results have been very good, and he comes in with a little heat.
