Cardinals vs Dodgers Sunday Night Baseball Prop Bets: Matz Sits Down Some Aggressive Batters

Prop bet #1: Three times a Mookie

The hits keep coming for Los Angeles Dodgers star Mookie Betts, who went 3-for-4 from the leadoff spot in Saturday’s extra-innings loss to the St. Louis Cardinals. That included three runs scored and his major-league leading fourth home run and 10th run batted in, also tops in the bigs.

It’s been an unreal start to the season, as Betts has recorded 11 hits in 18 at-bats, an outlandish .611 average and 2.109 OPS. He’s also homered in four straight games.

Of course, this pace is unsustainable, but you only need to go back one year to know Betts can stay hot over long stretches. He had five streaks of at least seven straight games with a hit, with three of those extending into double-digit games.

Could he get tripped up a little bit by Cards starter Steven Matz? Betts has only faced him three times in his career and has yet to record a hit.

However, I see Betts closing out the series in style, and a fifth straight game where he has at least three total bases. At plus-odds, I can’t wait to add this to my betting card.

Mookie Betts prop: 3+ total bases (+175 at FanDuel)

Prop bet #2: Welcome to the Sho'

Betts’ sizzling start may have taken a little bit of heat off the No. 2 hitter — and most famous baseball player currently on earth — in the lineup.

Shoehei Ohtani’s first 10 regular-season days with the Dodgers hasn’t exactly been memorable, unless you’re interested in the off-the-field drama involving sports gambling and his (former) longtime interpreter. On the field, Ohtani has collected hits in four of the five games he has played, including a 1-for-5 performance Saturday night, with a run scored and a walk. 

He’s currently hitting .273 with a .638 OPS and a pair of runs driven in. Missing so far, though, is the Japanese star connecting on his first home run in Dodger Blue. The five-game homerless drought to start his seventh season is tied for the second-longest in his career.

Ohtani failed to go yard in seven straight games to open the 2022 campaign. He also went homerless through five games in 2019, his second season in MLB.

He owns just a single hit in six at-bats against Matz and has fanned twice, but Ohtani going yard is an inevitability, and I’m hoping he breaks the goose egg against the Cardinals.

Shohei Ohtani prop: 1+ home run (+285 at FanDuel)

Prop bet #3: Matz entertainment

While we’re betting on the top of the L.A. order to do damage, Matz takes the mound hoping to propel St. Louis to a series split.

Matz didn’t exactly light it up in 2023, going 4-7 with a 3.86 ERA and a 1.33 WHIP, and he’s two years removed from his best statistical season, while with the Blue Jays, when he went 14-7 with a 3.82 ERA.

I don’t need him to be spectacular, but I do need him to sit down some batters, as we’re targeting his 4.5 strikeout total Sunday night. If he’s able to pitch like he did to close out the year, Matz should make you a winner, as he recorded five or more strikeouts in five of his last seven starts.

He faced L.A. just once last year, and though the Dodgers clubbed them 5-0, Matz did record six punchouts across 4 2/3 innings of work.

As a team, the Dodgers have fanned more than any team in the MLB this season with 49. No other team has even touched the 40-strikeout plateau yet, with the Padres in second with 36.

Matz should find enough juice to send at least five Dodgers packing at the plate.

Steven Matz prop: Over 4.5 strikeouts (-136 at FanDuel)