Sunday means an early start for everyone looking to place MLB prop bets, with the 15-game slate getting started bright and early as 11:35 a.m. ET. You’ll have to get your bets in earlier than usual, and with so many options to choose from, we’re here to help expedite things with three of our favorite plays of the day. (All odds courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook.)
MLB player prop bets: Sunday, June 11th
Zac Gallen, over 6.5 strikeouts (+100)
Gallen hasn’t been quite as scorching as he was during his Cy Young-caliber April, but I’m betting on a bounce-back performance against a woeful Detroit Tigers offense on Sunday. Detroit was shut out again yesterday, this time against mediocre Arizona righty Ryne Nelson, and they’ve been among the league’s most whiff-happy teams this season. The Tigers own MLB’s sixth-highest strikeout rate against righties on the year, and the fourth-highest strikeout rate overall over the last two weeks.
Even in this mini-slump, Gallen has struck out at least six batters in five of his last seven starts. His floor is awfully close to this number, in other words, and with a major step down in competition this afternoon, I’ll take these plus odds.
Masataka Yoshida, over 1.5 total bases (+130)
Yoshida is threatening to run away with the AL Rookie of the Year award, as the dynamite plate skills he showed while starring in Japan have translated seamlessly to the States so far this year. The 29-year-old has especially thrived with the platoon advantage, slashing .319/.374/.515 against right-handed pitching — which sets up rather well for his opponent on Sunday, Yankees righty Clarke Schmidt.
Schmidt also has pretty severe platoon splits, with a .322/.397/.548 line allowed to lefty batters on the season. Any one of the left-handers in the Boston Red Sox’ lineup would be a worthy play here, but it’s hard to turn down one of the league’s best pure hitters at favorable odds like these.
Blake Snell, over 2.5 walks (+105)
Snell’s been rolling lately, with just one earned run allowed over his last three starts. Even during that stretch, though, the lefty has displayed his typical wildness, walking a combined 10 batters. Zooming out even further, Snell has cleared this walk total in nine of his 12 starts — and with a trip to the hitter’s paradise of Coors Field on tap Sunday afternoon, I don’t see him bucking that trend any time soon.
Coors has been a house of horrors for the San Diego Padres southpaw in his career, as he owns a 7.48 ERA in five career starts — and, more importantly for our purposes, 18 walks in just 21.2 innings. In two starts at Colorado last year, Snell walked six and four, respectively, and even if he finds success on Sunday, it’ll likely come with at least three free passes.
