Major League Baseball is back! The league decided to change it up this year, starting with the Seoul Series in Korea at the start of the season. The official Opening Day takes place next Thursday, however.
Last postseason, we started putting out Sleeper Pick Predictions over at BettingPros, and they went pretty well, culminating with a 29-19 record for yours truly. The goal is to keep up that 60% hit rate for the duration of the 2024 season. Let’s see if we can get off to a good start this Wednesday, March 20.
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Wednesday’s Best MLB Sleeper Picks Player Predictions
2023 Sleeper Picks: 29-19
Jason Heyward Under 0.5 Hits
Hitters typically come out sluggish at the start of the season, and unlike a lot of the batters in the Dodgers lineup, Heyward isn’t known for his bat. Sure, he batted .269 last season, but he also ranked in the 20th percentile in average exit velocity and had a .291 BABIP, so a lot of that came down to good luck for the guy. Lastly, Heyward is just 1-for-13 against Yu Darvish, and there’s always the potential of him getting pinch-hit for kater in the game as he is more of a platoon bat these days.
Shohei Ohtani Under 1.5 Hits
Fading the face of baseball never is fun, but finding two hits in a game is a difficult proposition for any batter to come through with. Ohtani was under this mark in 97-of-135 (72%) games last season. He doesn’t have any historical data against Yu Darvish either, but it is worth noting that the two were teammates on the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters before making their way across seas to the MLB. Look for Darvish to turn it up a notch against his former teammate and fellow countrymen when the two square off in this one.
Jurickson Profar Under 0.5 Hits
Sticking with the rusty bat theme, Jurickson Profar isn’t one to typically find many hits as it is anyway. He owns a career .238 batting average and ranked in the bottom nine percentile in average exit velocity, 10th in barrel%, and 12th in hard-hit rate. He doesn’t have any experience hitting off Tyler Glasnow, but it’s safe to say he will be overmatched against one of the premier starters in the game. Take the under here.
