After a two-week July 4th holiday vacation I am glad to be back in the PrizePicks streets for some mid-July MLB action. Our last round of player predictions fared well, as we cruised to a 2-0-1 finish back on June 30. This was thanks to a couple of "less thans" hitting (Kyle Hendricks strikeouts, Jesus Sanchez total bases), also with a Ketel Marte hitter fantasy score push at 8.0.
With just a handful of games left until the 2024 All-Star break, we'll be hoping to close out the first half of the season on a strong note. Let's hop right in.
Our PrizePicks Cheat Sheet helps bettors by comparing lines from PrizePicks vs. our daily MLB projections >>
After a two-week July 4th holiday vacation I am glad to be back in the PrizePicks streets for some mid-July MLB action. Our last round of player predictions fared well, as we cruised to a 2-0-1 finish back on June 30. This was thanks to a couple of "less thans" hitting (Kyle Hendricks strikeouts, Jesus Sanchez total bases), also with a Ketel Marte hitter fantasy score push at 8.0.
With just a handful of games left until the 2024 All-Star break, we'll be hoping to close out the first half of the season on a strong note. Let's hop right in.
Our PrizePicks Cheat Sheet helps bettors by comparing lines from PrizePicks vs. our daily MLB projections >>
Saturday’s Best MLB PrizePicks Player Predictions
Current Overall Record: 42-29-3
Consider me feeling extra spicy heading into this final pre-All-Star game weekend as I'm looking to jump on a player prediction here I have never targeted in one of these articles (and very rarely go after in my wagering). There tend to be too many varying factors as to why a combo pitcher line like this is usually set to fail, but there are always exceptions to the norm.
The exceptions here are quite palpable. Both respective aces for Kansas City and Boston will be toeing the hill on Saturday afternoon - Seth Lugo versus Kutter Crawford. While I'm sure no one in their right mind had that on their bingo cards before Opening Day, both guys have been stellar for their respective franchises in 2024.
Seth Lugo currently leads the MLB in ERA (2.21) and is having a career season in his debut campaign with the Royals. On the flip side, Kutter Crawford has been on a near-flawless stretch, eclipsing 6.0 innings pitched in seven straight starts, including a dominating performance against the Yankees last week (7.0 innings, four hits, zero earned runs, four strikeouts).
A 9.0 run line is Vegas' current projection for Saturday, which is noticeably low for a mid-summer game at Fenway Park. All we are asking for here is a clean first inning on both sides. I'm willing to plant my flag on that being the case with the two incumbents headed to the hill later today.
I'm truly wondering if we had a fat finger error by whoever uploads MLB hitter player predictions on PrizePicks because a 7.0 line for Yordan Alvarez on Saturday seems wild. The Astros are facing off against Nathan Eovaldi, a pitcher Alvarez sees almost better than anyone else.
In 17 career at-bats against Eovaldi, Alvarez has collected 11 hits (.647 average), including two home runs, three doubles and five additional walks tacked on for good measure. Houston has bounced back nicely as a team from early season troubles in 2024, much of it on the back of their best hitter.
Alvarez has simply been as professional and consistent as ever in his sixth major league season. He currently ranks top-15 in baseball in average (13th), homers (12th) and OPS (11th). These statistical achievements are just another day in the office for the 27-year-old hitter. It would be quite surprising to not see him maintain continued success on Saturday against Texas.
Chris Flexen and the White Sox will do their best to post their 28th win on Saturday afternoon but consider me a skeptic. The 30-year-old veteran has had a poor 2024 campaign, at best, emphasized by an inflated 4.95 ERA and just 67 total strikeouts through 19 starts. Flexen is currently on an 11-game stretch as the White Sox starter in which the team ended up losing.
The Pittsburgh Pirates rank 26th in the league in team hitter strikeouts per game but they lowered their season-long 9.29 Ks/game to just 8.00 across the last three games out. Flexen has eclipsed five strikeouts thrown just three times all season and once across his past seven starts dating back to the beginning of June. Never really a power pitcher to begin with, there's no real reason a spike in set downs should occur as these teams square off later today.
Make sure to check out our other best bets for Saturday:
