Thursdays typically bring the weakest slates in Major League Baseball, and today is no different. There are just five games on the docket for April 18th, so let’s get right into three of my favorites for the day.
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Thursday’s Best MLB Sleeper Picks Player Predictions
Sleeper Record: 30-18
It’s obviously still early in the season, but Griffin Canning hasn’t looked great. Truthfully, he has really never looked great, despite his prospect shine coming into the big leagues. He sports a career 4.78 ERA through 350 innings. Canning is sitting a couple of ticks down velocity-wise and continues to leave his pitches over the plate, resulting in six, four, and five earned runs allowed in his first three starts. The Rays sit mid-pack against right-handed pitching, with a 101 wRC+ (12th) and the team should be able to scratch three runs against him.
Thursdays typically bring the weakest slates in Major League Baseball, and today is no different. There are just five games on the docket for April 18th, so let’s get right into three of my favorites for the day.
Get instant alerts when a line reaches your target via the BettingPros App >>
Thursday’s Best MLB Sleeper Picks Player Predictions
Sleeper Record: 30-18
It’s obviously still early in the season, but Griffin Canning hasn’t looked great. Truthfully, he has really never looked great, despite his prospect shine coming into the big leagues. He sports a career 4.78 ERA through 350 innings. Canning is sitting a couple of ticks down velocity-wise and continues to leave his pitches over the plate, resulting in six, four, and five earned runs allowed in his first three starts. The Rays sit mid-pack against right-handed pitching, with a 101 wRC+ (12th) and the team should be able to scratch three runs against him.
The Diamondbacks aren’t known to strike out very much, but this is a line that Webb has traditionally gone over for the vast majority of his career. Since 2021, the Giants’ ace has been over this mark in 68 of 95 starts (70.5%). His out prop at DraftKings is listed at -105 for him to go over 18.5 outs. If he pitches into the seventh inning, it’s hard to see him staying under this.
The Giants' big international signing has showcased Jung Hoo Lee’s propensity to make contact with just about everything he swings at. He ranks in the 100th percentile in Whiff% and has struck out on only seven of his 63 plate appearances (10.3%) this season. He’s stayed under this mark in 10 of 18 games. We’re working with a very small sample for him in the states, but he rarely struck out in the Korean Baseball Organization (KBO) as well. Last season, he had a miniscule 5.9% K% across 387 plate appearances. Ryne Nelson of the Diamondbacks isn’t one to be concerned about K-ing against either, so take the under here.
Make sure to check out our other best bets for Thursday:
Tyler Gentile is a featured writer at BettingPros. For more from Tyler, follow him @808Paperboi
