It’s a fully-loaded Big League slate with 15 games on the schedule, which means there is a ton of betting value to be found in the MLB prop bets market.
Today, we highlight a former KBO starter with a tempting strikeout total prop before taking a look at the white-hot Nick Castellanos of the Cincinnati Reds, who is locked in more than anyone in baseball right now.
We break down and pick those games and more with our best free MLB prop bets and predictions for Wednesday, June 9.
Today’s MLB props and picks
Mets -0.5 Five-Inning Runline (+110)
The New York Mets lead the National League East with a 29-24 record thanks to a starting rotation that leads Major League Baseball with a 2.93 ERA. Obviously, they are led by arguably the best player in baseball in Jacob deGrom, and Marcus Stroman has been excellent, but the biggest surprise of the bunch has to be Taijuan Walker.
The Mets’ right-hander has been outstanding to kick off his Mets career, pitching to a 2.17 ERA with a 1.06 WHIP, and is limiting opponents to a .181 batting average. That said, Walker is coming off a bit of a rough outing against the San Diego Padres so he’ll look to bounce back when he takes the mound tonight as the Mets visit the Baltimore Orioles.
The Orioles have responded to their 14-game losing streak by winning five of their last six, but for the most part, they have really struggled handling right-handed pitching. The O’s rank 28th in batting average and 24th in OPS when it comes to hitting against righties.
The Orioles counter Walker with a right-hander of their own in Matt Harvey. The veteran starter got his 2021 campaign off to a good start but recently has transformed back into the guy we are used to. Harvey has pitched to an ugly 12.96 ERA and a 2.28 WHIP over his last five starts.
With the Mets lineup starting to come around, and the big edge in starting pitchers, they are a good bet to have the lead through five innings.
Chris Flexen Over 3.5 Strikeouts (-150)
You know we love it when we get any chance to get KBO content in our MLB articles and we’ll do just that as we highlight former Doosan Bear and current Seattle Mariners starter Chris Flexen as he takes the mound against the Detroit Tigers.
Flexen earned his MLB contract after an excellent season in Korea but his results have been mixed so far in his first season back in the Bigs. Overall, the right-hander has pitched to a 4.70 ERA, a 1.42 WHIP, and 5.5 strikeouts per nine innings. But Flexen has arguably pitched better than those numbers suggest, and he’ll have a chance to improve his stats – particularly the strikeouts – against the Tigers.
Flexen had a rough four-start stretch where he recorded just three strikeouts in 17 2-3 innings pitched, but in his six other starts, he has notched 7.5 strikeouts per nine innings. Now, he goes up against a Tigers team that strikes out the second-most in baseball at 10.18 times per contest.
Flexen's inconsistency is the reason we get a number this low and while it's juiced pretty highly, this seems pretty close to a lock to go Over.
Nick Castellanos Over 1.5 Total Bases (-135)
Yesterday, we got burned by Jesse Winker and his total bases prop after getting just one single in the Cincinnati Reds' 5-1 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers. But we’re going back to the well of sorts with the total bases prop, except this time with Winker’s teammate and the other half of the Reds’ one-two power punch in Nick Castellanos.
Castellanos is tearing the cover off the ball right now. The right-handed slugger has hits in 22 of his last 23 games and is hitting .429 with a 1.143 OPS over that span, going Over 1.5 total bases a ridiculous 17 times in those 23 games.
Now, Castellanos gets to go up against Brewers’ lefty Brett Anderson. The journeyman starter has been mediocre at best his first season in Milwaukee, pitching to a 4.42 ERA and a 1.53 WHIP in his nine starts. To make things tough on Anderson, Castellanos is crushing lefties this season for a .410 average and 1.169 OPS. Bet the Over on his total bases with confidence.
MLB betting card for June 9
- Mets -0.5 Five-Inning Runline (+110)
- Chris Flexen Over 3.5 Strikeouts (-150)
- Nick Castellanos Over 1.5 Total Bases (-135)
Picks made on 6/9/2021 at 10:30 a.m. ET
MLB parlays
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