Mondays normally feature relatively empty slates for the MLB. However, today is Labor Day so there will be 11 games played. How will Corbin Burnes fare against the Chicago White Sox? Will Logan Gilbert have more success in his second start of the season against the Oakland A's? And how will Yordan Alvarez follow up his two-home run performance when he takes on the Cincinnati Reds?
Here are the best PrizePicks plays for Monday, September 2nd.
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Mondays normally feature relatively empty slates for the MLB. However, today is Labor Day so there will be 11 games played. How will Corbin Burnes fare against the Chicago White Sox? Will Logan Gilbert have more success in his second start of the season against the Oakland A's? And how will Yordan Alvarez follow up his two-home run performance when he takes on the Cincinnati Reds?
Here are the best PrizePicks plays for Monday, September 2nd.
Join our new MLB Betting Group to share bets and compete in leaderboards >>
Monday’s Best MLB PrizePicks Player Predictions
This Season: 97-71-7
The fact that Burnes is going up against the worst team in baseball is sure to draw some attention today. He’s had 150 strikeouts in 164.1 innings this season, and it would be surprising to see him pitch fewer than 6.0 innings today. But for all the White Sox troubles, strikeouts really haven't been a huge issue this year.
The White Sox rank 12th in the league in total strikeouts. Burnes has only struck out eight of them in 41 attempts. Earlier this season, Burnes pitched 6.0 innings and struck out just six White Sox players. Burnes has struck out more than six batters just three times in his last 18 starts. In those three starts, he struck out seven. Take the under, because this matchup isn't as good as it seems.
Gilbert struck out only five A's in 7.0 innings when they played in early June. To get so few strikeouts in so many innings against a team that is so strikeout-prone is certainly concerning. However, his career numbers against the A'a are very good and this season, he's struck out 172 batters in 171.2 innings. Both of those facts should carry him over the top.
In his last five starts, Gilbert hasn't struck out fewer than six batters and in his last start, he struck out 10. He's holding the A's to a .141 batting average against him in his career. Though he's only struck out 16 A's in 64 tries, the team has experienced so many issues making contact that we think averages will win out tonight. If Gilbert pitches at least 6.0 innings, he should hit this over.
Seeing this line set at 2.5 total bases is shocking. Yes, Alvarez is coming off of a two-homer game against the Kansas City Royals, but there's no reason to think he’ll have more than 1.5 bases. Alvarez's last 14 hits have all been singles or home runs. While five of those hits were home runs, they have not been evenly dispersed between games. Instead, Alvarez finds a matchup he likes and exploits it, as we saw when he hit three home runs against the Philadelphia Phillies.
Alvarez has never faced the Reds' starter Julian Aguilar, who has allowed five home runs in 14.0 innings, so perhaps it’s strange to think Alvarez won't hit a home run tonight. But based on how he's been hitting, Alvarez will only go over this line if he hits a home run. That being said, if you want to hedge against this under, go find a better sportsbook price and play him over 0.5 home runs.
Phil Wood is a featured writer at BettingPros. For more from Phil, check out his archive and follow him @Phil_Wood_Jr.
