It's the start of another week, and there's an excellent slate of games around the diamond. While it's not quite a weekend schedule, there are still 22 of 30 MLB teams in action on Monday, giving us some nice options.
We'll be looking at an American League pitcher to keep doing what he's done all season, along with two big plus-money targets.
Come along with us, and let's cash some of these selections in our free daily MLB props for Monday, April 24.
MLB props for April 24
Picks made on 4/24/2023 at 12:55 p.m. ET.
Click on each pick to jump to the full analysis.
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Best MLB bets today
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Prop bet #1: Free passes for all
Sometimes laying the juice is worth it. This is my favorite prop (at the current lines available), and I see value all the way down to -200. It was one of the first bets I made today.
The Baltimore Orioles boast some of the league's most patient hitters so far in 2023. As a result, they've bumped their walks per game from 2.94 in 2022 to 4.38 now. That's the league's second-best rate, and it's gone a long way toward improving their overall team.
I've bet the Over on Chris Sale's walks during all of his starts but one, and it's been good to me. I'm up three units because the number has been 1.5 for every game, and he's gone Over each time.
Sale's command will improve eventually and there will be a run of Unders, but that time isn't now. The post-injury Sale is still very much a work in progress.
Beyond the Orioles' walk rate, Sale's arsenal mix against Baltimore is appealing. He'll be able to stay with his fastball less often against a team full of good hitters. His command issues and trouble usually come from those secondary pitches. I expect that to continue Monday.
Chris Sale Prop: Over 1.5 walks (-160)
Prop bet #2: Mowing 'em down
I'm playing an alternate number here that offers the most value. The standard strikeout total sits at 4.5. My projections price the Over here at +140, making this a must-play.
Though the Detroit Tigers have been playing better over the last week or so, I'm still not done fading them in the strikeout market. The Tigers are a free-swinging bunch, and they still need to make more contact. Like Sale's walks, if you had blanket played their opponents' strikeout prop Over, you'd be in the green on the season.
Detroit enters Monday with the third-highest strikeout rate in baseball and the second-highest over its last three games. Unlike some of their counterparts, the Tigers don't make up for striking out with lots of hard contact when they do connect, which allows pitchers to still last deep into games.
Rea has gone over this number in one of his starts during 2023. That came against a San Diego Padres team that's sixth in strikeouts per game over its last three and 10th overall. So naturally you have to ask, if Rea can get it done against the Padres' star-studded lead lineup, why can't he do it Monday?
This matchup is ideal, and the price is very appealing.
Colin Rea Prop: Over 5.5 strikeouts (+240)
Prop bet #3: Lowe goes high
The Tampa Bay Rays are in the middle of destroying an MLB record for most consecutive games with a home run. They've hit a dinger in 22 straight contests to begin the season. So we're backing them to do it again and like Lowe to club the round-tripper.
Lowe is leading the Rays in barrel rate amid a sensational start to the season, and he's third on the team in hard-hit rate. That's a pretty impressive feat when Yandy Diaz and Randy Arozarena are on your team.
The matchup for him Monday should be a decent one. Jose Urquidy takes the mound for the Houston Astros, and while he doesn't give up much hard contact overall, the hurler does struggle with one pitch. That pitch, unsurprisingly, has been his fastball.
Batters have hit over .300 against it while posting a hard-hit rate over 60%. Lowe has been one of the best fastball hitters on the Rays. He's slugged over .800 against fastballs and has been hot lately.
I'll take a shot here on a hitter playing as well as he has at any point of his career, and at a price I feel is a little high.
Brandon Lowe Prop: To hit a home run (+350)
