It's been a long two weeks since my last PrizePicks article and for good reason. I was on as cold a streak as ever, so I needed to take some time to regroup and come back with a strong finish to the season. At least, that's the story I am telling myself- it was really more of a combination of vacation time and the return of football season if we're being honest here. Nevertheless, the delay feels like it could have been exactly what was needed to get back on track. And the train is ready to get rolling once again. I refuse to close out the 2024 MLB season on a losing streak.
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It's been a long two weeks since my last PrizePicks article and for good reason. I was on as cold a streak as ever, so I needed to take some time to regroup and come back with a strong finish to the season. At least, that's the story I am telling myself- it was really more of a combination of vacation time and the return of football season if we're being honest here. Nevertheless, the delay feels like it could have been exactly what was needed to get back on track. And the train is ready to get rolling once again. I refuse to close out the 2024 MLB season on a losing streak.
Join our new MLB Betting Group to share bets and compete in leaderboards >>
Saturday’s Best MLB PrizePicks Player Predictions
Current Overall Record: 60-45-4
There are few more professional and exceptional contact hitters across baseball than Luis Arraez, and he has showcased that ability once again in 2024. The 27-year-old got off to a considerably cold start to the campaign but has done nothing but rake over the past few months.
The surge has pushed his batting average all the way up to fourth in the MLB at .317, and he is notably on an 11-game hit streak that has seen him collect at least one knock in every September game played to this point. He is currently 20-for-43 (.465) across the month as of this writing.
One final factor pulling in Arraez's favor for Saturday is the matchup against Mason Black, the Giants' starter. Black has no real hope of containing Arraez's bat, or really any of the Padres' lineup for that matter, as evidenced by his season-long 7.50 ERA. Arraez has gone 1-for-3 in a few career appearances against Black, and he will look to tack on a few more later this evening.
Amidst a career year for Red Sox outfielder Jarren Duran, it’s likely his production against the Yankees in this late Summer series already concluded on Friday night when he finished 3-for-4 overall. While that should give him some light momentum heading into a Saturday afternoon showing, the matchup is set to be considerably more difficult.
Gerrit Cole will be toeing the mound for New York and he has come back into true ace form over the past handful of starts. Most importantly, his last two have been particularly dominant. He held the Rangers to one run on four hits while striking out nine in his first September start, and he followed it up with a three-hit seven-strikeout performance against the Cubs last week.
Jarren Duran is just 3-for-15 (.200) against Cole in his career which includes 10 (!!) of those 15 at-bats resulting in a strikeout. Not only would I not hesitate to hammer this Under line for Saturday, but I'd also be jumping on a Duran Hitter Strikeout "Over" line if it's to be posted later.
As the old saying goes: "If it ain't broke, don't fix it," and it hasn't been broken for superstar Bobby Witt Jr. at all this season. The third-year 24-year-old currently leads baseball in average (.332), as well as in runs scored with 120 which is four higher than second-place holder Shohei Ohtani.
Betting on Witt Jr. has been +EV all season long, and there's no real reason to believe the trend won't be able to continue on Saturday. He'll be getting his first career look at Pirates' starter Mitch Keller, whose 2024 season has been a far cry from the production he offered one year ago. Keller is quite susceptible to blowup performances and the Royals' are pushing hard for a playoff spot. They will need to be led by Witt Jr. if they hope to get there.
