The first full month of the season is in the rearview mirror, and we head into May. Wednesdays are usually an earlier day for most teams as they get ready to travel on Thursday to the site of their respective weekend series and get a much-needed day off. Every team will be in action on Wednesday, May 1, but 10 games have a first pitch scheduled ahead of 7 p.m. ET, so make sure to get your bets in early.
With so many options to choose from, it can be overwhelming to sift through all the matchups and lines to find the most advantageous wavers. Well, we did it for you. Here are our best MLB player prop bets for Wednesday’s slate, with odds courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook.
Teddy Ricketson’s 2024 MLB Player Prop record: 27-29-3
Tuesday recap (2-1): Reynaldo Lopez took his first loss of the season for the Atlanta Braves but struck out seven, so he cashed his prop. Andres Gimenez went 2-5 to hit his prop. I didn’t like Luis Arraez’s 1.5 hit line, so I tried to go a different route and took 1+ singles. Even with an extra at-bat in the 10th inning the Miami Marlins second baseman went 1-5 with…a double. I was right in thinking he wouldn’t get two hits, but his stretching that hit into a two-bagger had us miss this prop.
MLB player prop bets: Wednesday, May 1
Justin Verlander, 5+ strikeouts (-215)
The future Hall-of-Famer will make his third start of the season on Wednesday. He struggled with his pitch count last time out, making it through only 4.1 scoreless innings but striking out seven and walking four along the way. When looking at this matchup, you’d assume the team’s records had been accidentally flip-flopped, but Cleveland had been playing well heading into this series. Houston won 10-9 in Game 1, however, and the Guardians struck out 15 times over 10 innings, with Astros starter Hunter Brown setting down seven.
CJ Abrams, over 0.5 hits (-250)
Abrams has been on a tear through the first month of the season and heads into May slashing .295/.373/.619. He will face Texas Rangers starter Andrew Heaney and is 1-2 against him so far in his career. Abrams has been demolishing lefties, hitting .406 against them in the traditionally unfavorable matchup. Heaney hasn’t done well getting out lefties, as they are hitting .333 against him this season. Abrams should be able to push his hitting streak to seven games on Wednesday.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto, 5+ strikeouts (-180)
Yamamoto’s start in the MLB wasn’t a great one, allowing five earned runs in his debut. He’s battled back, settled in, and heads into Wednesday’s start against the Arizona Diamondbacks with a 2-1 record and 3.54 ERA. Yamamoto has struck out 37 hitters in 28 innings and has tallied at least five strikeouts in five straight starts. I’d be comfortable taking his prop line of over 5.5, but I am willing to sacrifice odds to have that coverage in case he ends with five against Arizona, who struck out just five times as a team on Tuesday.