It’s another getaway day in Major League Baseball, with four matinee matchups on the betting board. That, of course, means there are MLB prop bets for you to dive into all day long.
Today, we find some value with a slumping slugger as Jesse Winker and the Cincinnati Reds take on the Milwaukee Brewers, and are Detroit Tigers good? Or at least, good enough to whack around Minnesota Twins starter J.A. Happ?
We break down and pick these games and more with our best free MLB prop bets and predictions for Tuesday, July 8.
Today’s MLB props and picks
Pirates Team Total Under 3.5 (-140)
The New York Mets are in first place in the National League East thanks to one thing. Pitching. And Taijuan Walker has been a big part of that.
The right-hander has been outstanding his first season in Queens, pitching to a 2.44 ERA, a 1.01 WHIP while limiting opponents to a .194 batting average. He’ll look to keep rolling as the Mets host the Pittsburgh Pirates, who are still masquerading around as an MLB team.
Yes, the poor Pirates are lucky relegation isn’t a thing in the MLB or they could be sent down to AAA. They score the fewest runs per game in baseball and rank 21st in batting average and dead last in OPS when it comes to facing right-handed pitching.
To make things even tougher on the Buccos, Walker has been close to unhittable at home this season. In seven starts at Citi Field, Walker has a 1.52 ERA, an 0.89 WHIP with opponents hitting just .172 against him.
With the Pirates scoring three runs or fewer nine times in their last 10 games, they are a good bet to stay Under their team total in this one going up against a quality arm like Walker.
Jesse Winker Over 1.5 Total Bases (-110)
Cincinnati Reds All-Star Jesse Winker has cooled off considerably after his white-hot start to the season, but a date with Adrian Houser and the Milwaukee Brewers could be just what he needs to give him a little jump start.
Winker is still hitting .305 with a .939 OPS and 19 home runs, but over his last 15 games, he is just 7-53 (.132) with two home runs. Luckily for Winker, there aren’t many pitchers out there who he looks forward to going up against more than Houser.
Winker is 9-16 (.563) in his career against the Brewers right-hander with five dingers. That equates to a ridiculous 2.167 OPS. With Houser bouncing back-and-forth between solid starts and shaky performances, we like Winker to find his rhythm at the dish in this one.
J.A. Happ Over 5.5 Hits Allowed (-120)
Just like the Minnesota Twins' season in general, 2021 has not gone according to plan for starter J.A. Happ. The lefty has been roughed up to the tune of a 6.09 ERA and a 1.50 WHIP over 15 starts this season, and he gets a sneaky tough matchup when the Twins host the Detroit Tigers Thursday.
The Tigers actually sit in third place in the American League Central (which says more about the quality of the division as opposed to the play of the Tigers) and haven’t lost a series since the middle of June.
One of the reasons for that is they are starting to get more comfortable at the dish recently, particularly against lefties. Detroit ranks seventh in batting average and 10th in OPS when it comes to hitting against left-handed pitching over the last 15 days (13 games).
So, that makes the matchup with Happ a juicy one. The veteran southpaw has allowed six or more hits in a start eight times in his last 10 games and five times in the last six overall. He's surrendered an average of 7.67 hits per start over that six-game stretch. Bet the Tigers to get a few more knocks in this one.
MLB betting card for July 8
- Pirates Team Total Under 3.5 (-140)
- Jesse Winker Over 1.5 Total Bases (-110)
- J.A. Happ Over 5.5 Hits Allowed (-120)
Picks made on 7/8/2021 at 10:30 a.m. ET
MLB parlays
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