Top 3 MLB Player Prop Bets & Picks: Tuesday (4/8)
Tuesday’s Major League Baseball slate looks like Opening Day in many ways, with how many aces will be toeing the rubber. There are several Cy Young Award candidates taking the mound for their respective teams like Tarik Skubal, Paul Skenes, Garrett Crochet, Zack Wheeler, Chris Sale, Cole Ragans, Freddy Peralta and Framber Valdez, among others.
Which of these aces makes today’s column?
Read on for our top MLB player prop bets for Tuesday, April 8th.
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Tuesday's Best MLB Player Prop Bets
(Odds courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook)
Paul Skenes to Record a Win (+130)
Paul Skenes made three starts against the division rival Cardinals last year. While he has yet to beat St. Louis with an 0-2 record, he has been a hard-luck loser while pitching to a 1.31 ERA and 0.677 WHIP in those outings.
There is no pitch count or innings limit on Skenes early in the season, as he has thrown an average of 98 pitches in his two starts. Skenes has not allowed more than three hits in a start. When he is not racking up an elite strikeout total, he is inducing ground balls with an 18:11 ground-ball-to-fly-ball ratio.
I was tempted to back the under on Skenes’ earned runs prop, but with that being a steep -195 on an over/under of 1.5, I will instead back Skenes to earn a win at plus-money odds.
Jarren Duran to Record a Run (-120)
The Boston Red Sox face Toronto Blue Jays lefty Easton Lucas today. Their -185 Moneyline odds suggest they are in for a big offensive day, even amid frigid temperatures.
We do not care much that this is a lefty-on-lefty matchup, and are instead encouraged by the fact that Jarren Duran has scored four runs in 11 games this season.
With Alex Bregman behind him, starting to get hot and coming off a Player of the Week nomination, and it being only a matter of time before Rafael Devers catches fire and plays more to the back of his baseball card, Duran should be crossing the plate with much more regularity.
Cole Ragans Over 6.5 Strikeouts (-145)
The Minnesota Twins entered Monday ranked in the bottom half of the league in strikeout rate (23.2%). But that number jumps significantly against southpaws, as they have the third-worst strikeout rate (32.9%) against left-handed pitchers.
They now face one of the nastiest lefties in the game in Cole Ragans, who is coming off a year where he led the American League with a 10.8 K/9 rate and finished fourth in American League Cy Young voting. Ragans has pitched to a 1.93 ERA and a 10.6 K/9 rate in five career starts against the Twins, so this is great value for him to record seven-plus strikeouts.
Mike Spector is a featured writer at BettingPros. For more from Mike, check out his archive and follow him @MikeSpector01.