MLB Player Props & Bets: Tuesday (7/7)
In today's article, I'm focusing on why Yordan Alvarez is going to break out of his funk against the Nationals. I also highlight why I expect both Matthew Boyd and Max Meyer to rack up strikeouts in their respective starts. Here are the best MLB player props for Tuesday, July 7th.
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Tuesday’s Best MLB Player Props & Bets
(Odds courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook)
Matthew Boyd 6+ Strikeouts (+106)
Matthew Boyd has had a very inconsistent season. He's pitched fewer than five innings in four of his seven starts, allowing multiple earned runs in five of those games. Yet, he also has 37 strikeouts in 33.2 innings, including two appearances with at least seven punchouts.
Tonight, Boyd gets an excellent matchup against the Orioles, the team with the fourth-most strikeouts in the league. Additionally, Boyd has excellent numbers against the Orioles' lineup in his career, with 13 strikeouts in just 33 at-bats. The Orioles are hitting just .212 off him, and he's yet to allow a single earned run.
With this in mind, I think Boyd is poised to pitch deep enough into this game to take advantage of the Orioles' struggles to make contact. While Boyd has just six strikeouts in his last two starts combined, he has at least five strikeouts in every game where he's pitched at least 5.2 innings. The key for him is staying on the mound long enough to find his rhythm.
Max Meyer 7+ Strikeouts (+127)
Max Meyer has been outstanding for the Marlins this season. He boasts a 9-1 record, a 2.53 ERA and 112 strikeouts over 103 innings. While he only has five strikeouts in each of his last two starts, Meyer has thrown fewer than five strikeouts in just one of his 18 starts this season.
Meyer has struck out at least seven batters seven times this season. While that's not an incredible number heading into this start, the fact that he's facing the Mariners has me loving him in this spot. The Mariners have struck out 791 times this season, which is the seventh-most in the league. In all, they're averaging 8.7 strikeouts per game.
Meyer has very little history against the Mariners. While he's allowed two home runs, he's also struck out five batters in 14 plate appearances. At this price, I'll back that type of success to continue against an offense that struggles to strike out.
Yordan Alvarez 2+ Hits (+200)
Despite the Astros scoring 11 runs last night, Yordan Alvarez managed just one hit in five at-bats. He now has just one hit in his last two games. However, Alvarez has the fourth-best batting average in baseball, and I'm not going to fade him strictly because he had two tough outings in a row.
Alvarez has three hits in three of his last six games. In June, he managed multiple hits in eight games, and he has 30 this season.
Tonight, Alvarez is tasked with facing Nationals starter Andrew Alvarez. While he allowed just two hits in his last start, he has allowed at least four hits in six of his last seven appearances.
Additionally, Alvarez is yet to pitch more than 4.2 innings in a game this season. That means the Astros' star hitter will likely get plenty of cracks against a Nationals' bullpen ranked 28th in ERA this year.
Phil Wood is a featured writer at BettingPros. For more from Phil, check out his archive and follow him @Phil_Wood_Jr.