Thursdays are typically a lighter day around the MLB, but there are eight games scheduled for Thursday, May 23. Six of them have a first pitch ahead of 3:40 p.m. ET, which doesn’t give you a lot of time to look through the matchups and find advantageous odds or lines. With that in mind, here are our best MLB player prop bets for Thursday’s slate, with odds courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook.
Teddy Ricketson’s 2024 MLB Player Prop record: 61-43-5
Wednesday’s recap (1-2): We got bit by the injury bug on Wednesday as Josh Lowe had only one at-bat, struck out, and was removed from the game. The Arizona Diamondbacks proved to be too much for Tyler Glasnow as his pitch count got away from him. He allowed three earned runs on 95 pitches in five innings. The lone win from the day was thanks to Nasty Nestor handling the Seattle Mariners. He picked up a win and struck out six, hitting the over on his 5.5 line.
MLB player prop bets: Thursday, May 23
Paul Skenes, 7+ strikeouts (-190)
This will be Skenes’ third start of his career, but first against a team that isn’t the Chicago Cubs. He has struck out 18 batters over 10 innings of work. I was tempted to take his regular line of 7.5 strikeouts (-110) or even pushing the alternate line to (+ (+160), but the lone knock against Skenes is that he hasn’t been able to pitch deep into games. He threw six innings against Chicago his last time out, but it helped that he struck out the first seven batters of the game. Still, even if Skenes gets an early hook, he should be able to punch out seven against the San Francisco Giants.
Andrew Heaney, 5+ hits allowed (-145)
The Texas Rangers southpaw has struggled this season and heads into Thursday’s matchup against the Philadelphia Phillies with an 0-5 record and a 4.43 ERA. Heaney has allowed at least five hits in three consecutive starts and in four of his last five. Philadelphia is riding a five-game win streak and has outscored Texas 16-6 in the series.
Grayson Rodriguez, over 17.5 outs recorded (-145)
Rodriguez is 4-1 with a 3.15 ERA. He’s taken the mound seven times this season and has recorded at least 18 outs in four of them, including his last time out against the Seattle Mariners. The last five starting pitchers that have faced the Chicago White Sox each recorded at least 18 outs, and Rodriguez should continue that streak on Thursday.