MLB Player Props Today: Varland, Turner, Plus a PrizePicks Prediction (May 14)
What kind of performances can we expect on Sunday from Louie Varland, Trea Turner, and Masataka Yoshida? Follow along as our MLB betting expert, Nick Galaida, breaks down three of his favorite MLB prop bets and DFS pick’em predictions for today – Sunday, May 14, 2023. Get all of Nick’s picks, including more MLB player props, at ScoresandOdds.
Happy Mother’s Day! Today’s 15-game slate began earlier today with a matchup between the Los Angeles Angels and Cleveland Guardians, but there is still plenty of action left on Sunday. There are 14 games yet to get underway, nine of which have a scheduled first pitch of 2:10 p.m. EST or later, giving fans plenty of opportunity to get involved at the sportsbooks.
We went 1-2 yesterday, but we are still 23-15-2 on non-Home Run props to begin the month of May. We are now 45-23-1 on pitcher prop recommendations for the season. There is plenty of opportunity once again on the player prop market today – below are three prop leans for May 14!
MLB Props Results – Wager Type
1st Inning: 0-4
Dinger Tuesday: 2-6
Hitter: 22-23-1
Outs Recorded: 15-7
Stolen Base: 0-2
Strikeout: 30-16-1
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MLB Player Props Today
- Louie Varland o5.5 strikeouts
- Trea Turner o1.5 total bases
- Masataka Yoshida less than 0.5 hitter strikeouts
Louie Varland o5.5 strikeouts (-116), FanDuel
Across the last two weeks, the Chicago Cubs rank 25th out of 30 teams in Major League Baseball in strikeout percentage. In that span, the Cubs have been relatively disciplined, swinging at the 10th-fewest pitches outside of the strike zone, but they rank 21st in contact percentage on pitches in the zone and have taken far too many called strikes. Louie Varland was a strikeout machine in the minor leagues before getting called up, striking out more than 32% of batters during his time at Triple-A across the last two seasons. In three starts since being promoted to the big leagues, Varland has eclipsed this market number three times. Today, he has the strikeout-friendly Chris Segal calling balls and strikes behind the plate, which only further supports an over in this spot.
Trea Turner o1.5 total bases (-135), BetMGM
We targeted this exact same play a couple of days ago and it worked out nicely for us, so we are running things back to end the week. After going hitless on Saturday night, Turner has an excellent bounce-back opportunity on Sunday against Kyle Freeland, who has struggled to a 5.47 WHIP and allowed a .261 opponent batting average to right-handed hitters so far in 2023. Freeland has a pedestrian 16.9% strikeout rate against right-handed batters this year, which should, at minimum, give Turner an opportunity to benefit from some good luck on balls in play in this matchup. Take the over.
MLB DFS Pick’em
Masataka Yoshida less than 0.5 hitter strikeouts, PrizePicks
Entering play on Sunday, Masataka Yoshida has struck out in only 10.3% of his plate appearances this season. Yet, after striking out yesterday, Yoshida has now punched out in three of his last four games – a trend that is unlikely to continue. Tonight, he gets to face Miles Mikolas, who had a 19.8% strikeout rate against left-handed batters in 2022. Trust Yoshida to put the ball in play in each of his trips to the plate on Sunday, making this an appealing look for those who have access to PrizePicks.
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