I hope everyone had a fantastic weekend after another week of sports betting. Friday was another positive night in the prop betting world with a 2-1 record. However, in a perfect world, the record would have been 3-0 by looking at some of Chris Flexen’s numbers. The White Sox pitcher allowed 7 earned runs, which would have you assuming that he squandered over 5.5 hits. However, he only allowed 4 hits because he walked 5 batters. That was just a simple case of having the right read, but wrong result.
We can now look forward to today and take on some of the best props I can find. The slate is robust and allows us to find the absolute best props. Here are the top props for this magnificent Monday.
Byron Buxton Over 1.5 Hits + Runs + RBIs (-130)
I went with this same Byron Buxton prop a few articles ago, and it soared over. Today, I am going to see if I can hit this prop for a second time. Buxton has been lethal for the past two months, as he is batting .343 with 8 home runs and 25 RBIs in that span. In July alone, his OPS is an astounding 1.242.
Buxton is on fire right now, but the starting pitcher facing him also has something to do with this selection. The magic of Ranger Suarez seems to be waning after a few bad starts in a row before the All-Star break. After his start on June 25th, Ranger was occupying a 1.83 ERA. Three starts later, his ERA ballooned to 2.76. He is getting touched up at an alarming rate since his hot start to the season.
That leads us back to Buxton. Buxton has been able to hit off left-handed pitchers well for the entire season. He is batting .313 with an OPS of .913 versus lefties.
This is one of the props I don’t want to overthink. Buxton has been hot for around two months now. I want to ride with the hot hand in the right matchup.
Cole Ragans Over 4.5 Hits Allowed (-170)
Cole Ragans is one of the best young pitchers in the MLB today and should be an ace for the foreseeable future. However, I want to fade him today against the Arizona Diamondbacks. The main reason for me wanting to fade Ragans is his splits. At home, Ragans has a 3.49 ERA, while on the road, it is significantly lower at 2.83. Then there are the differences between night games versus day games. In 8-day starts, Ragans has a 1.96 ERA and OBA of .178. In 12-night starts, Ragans has a 3.95 ERA and OBA of .244.
Then there are the D-Backs and their splits against lefties. They have the second-most total hits and tied for the highest batting average versus lefties. They are also pretty good on the road, as they rank in the top 10 in AVG, hits, and OPS away from Arizona.
Ragans is still a good enough pitcher to hit his over on strikeouts and even the over on his outs recorded. However, I think 4.5 hits allowed is too low for someone with those splits and this bad of a matchup.
Tyler Anderson Over 17.5 Outs Recorded (-150)
Tyler Anderson has surprised a lot of people this year by becoming an All-Star once again. Anderson currently holds a 2.97 ERA and WHIP of 1.17. With the trade deadline coming up soon, this can be his last start and why not go out with a bang?
Tonight, Anderson will face the Seattle Mariners, who are the worst offense in baseball. They are in the bottom three in almost every batting category. This could worsen if Julio Rodriguez misses a game or two after his ankle injury yesterday. The offense is in dire need of help and losing their best player does not help this cause.
Anderson should be able to cruise to 6 innings, especially with how good he is on the road. He gets to pitch in a very pitcher-friendly ballpark while posting a 1.87 ERA and .175 OBA on the road. Furthermore, the bullpen of the Angels has been used over the past few days.
The bullpen usage is up and the Mariners have an awful offense. All of those signs point towards Anderson getting through 6 innings and cashing the over for what could be his last start for the Angels.
Noel is from Philadelphia, PA. He went to West Chester University and graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Communications in Media & Culture.
