Best Bets on Today’s MLB Player Props Market
The 2023 MLB season is underway and VSiN has you covered with every way you can possibly bet on a baseball game. As always, Adam Burke will have daily best bets to give you some ideas of what to back when it comes to moneylines, run lines and totals. However, I’m tackling player props here, and I’m targeting Josh Bell, Clarke Schmidt and Kyle Hendricks on Thursday, June 29th. Keep reading to find out how I’m betting on all of them.
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MORE: Check out our Pro Picks page for everything our experts have on June 29
Here are our favorite MLB prop bets for Thursday, June 29th:
Cleveland Guardians (-150, 9) at Kansas City Royals
Zack Greinke is taking the hill for the Royals today, so why not look to some Guardians hitter props? Greinke is just 1-8 with a 5.31 ERA on the season, and he is 0-3 with a 9.00 ERA over four June starts. This is just not a guy that is performing at an adequate level right now, and he is looking the part of a 39-year-old with nonexistent stuff.
One player I like to go out and do some damage in this game is Josh Bell, who is 3 for 11 with two doubles against Greinke in his career. Bell is coming off a game in which he went 2 for 5 with a double and a homer against this Royals team on Wednesday, so he is clearly seeing the ball well right now. And Bell is also a player that is at his best against righties, and he even prefers playing during the day. So, at plus-money odds, I like his chances of coming through with multiple hits or just ripping a double or a homer.
Bet: Bell Over 1.5 Total Bases (+120)
New York Yankees (-190, 8.5) at Oakland Athletics
The Athletics were just the victims of a perfect game, so they’ll be eager to come out and put that behind them here. But I still think this is a good spot to back Clarke Schmidt’s strikeout props. Schmidt hasn’t been missing bats as frequently in the last month, as he has had four or fewer strikeouts in each of his last four games. But he is going to be looking forward to this matchup.
Schmidt faced this Athletics team on May 9th, when he pitched 6.0 innings of two-run ball and struck out seven batters in a 10-5 win at Yankee Stadium. He fully took advantage of an Oakland team that has the second-highest strikeout rate in the league against right-handed pitching. Now, Schmidt gets to go to work against the Athletics in Oakland, where the team is striking out at an even higher clip.
Considering Schmidt has already had a seven-strikeout game against Oakland, it’s just hard to lay off him at plus-money odds to strike out six batters.
Bet: Schmidt Over 5.5 Strikeouts (+118)
Philadelphia Phillies (-115, 10) at Chicago Cubs
Kyle Hendricks has quietly looked like an ace for the Cubs this season, and he has been especially impressive since the start of June. Hendricks has allowed only six earned runs in 25.1 innings pitched this month, and he comes into this start after having allowed two or fewer earned runs in three consecutive starts. With Hendricks in a groove like this, I think he can turn in a decent outing against a hot-and-cold Phillies team.
Philadelphia has the ninth-highest strikeout rate in the league against right-handed pitching, so Hendricks should be able to miss a few more bats than usual here. And the Phillies are just a middle-of-the-pack team when it comes to wRC+ against righties, so that’s another thing working in Hendricks’ favor. With how well Hendricks pitches to contact, combined with him potentially striking out a few more batters in this game, I just don’t see him having much trouble recording at least 17 outs.
Hendricks has pitched at least six innings in three of his last four starts, and I’m expecting him to do so again here. This total is a little higher than you want it to be, but I’m putting my trust in The Professor.
Bet: Hendricks Over 16.5 Outs Recorded (+100)
Did you know that you can parlay these three picks together at +859 odds? Try out our VSiN Parlay Calculator HERE!
