The Los Angeles Dodgers’ championship defense could not have gotten off to a better start. So far in 2025, Los Angeles is 7-0, tying for the best start in franchise history and the best start by a reigning World Series champion with the 1933 New York Yankees.
The Dodgers will look to stand alone in history when they take on the Atlanta Braves for an 8:38 p.m. ET clash in the City of Angels. So far, the Braves are Major League Baseball’s only winless team, although, to be fair, they’ve played four games against the San Diego Padres and two against Los Angeles.
The scary part for the rest of the league is that it’s not unreasonable to think that the Dodgers could get even better moving forward. Touted offseason acquistion Roki Sasaki, arguably the best Japanese pitching prospect of all time, has struggled mightily in his first two MLB starts, and two-time reigning MVP Shohei Ohtani is hitting just .280.
On DraftKings Sportsbook, Los Angeles is a 1.5-run favorite and the total is set for 8. Below, I’ve highlighted my favorite prop bets centered around Ohtani.
Best Shohei Ohtani Prop Bets on DraftKings Sportsbook
Shohei Ohtani O2.5 Hits + Runs + RBI’s (+105)
Despite his mediocre (by his ridiculous standards) batting average, Ohtani is still leading the league with 10 runs, having crossed the plate at least once in all seven of the Dodgers’ games this season. He’s also tied for second with seven walks, three behind Atlanta’s Marcell Ozuna, and in both of the games this season in which he didn’t record a hit, he managed to walk twice. His only RBI’s have come via solo home runs, but he’s also only had nine at-bats with runners on base, partially a function of the fact that he’s Los Angeles’ leadoff hitter. Ohtani managed to record three or more combined hits, runs, and RBI’s in each of his first three games of the 2025 season, although he hasn’t done so since.
I like his chances against Braves right-hander Bryce Elder, who was truly awful in his 49.2 innings of work last season. Elder recorded a 6.52 ERA and a .311 opponent batting average, both of which would have been by far the worst marks in the league if he’d thrown enough innings to qualify. Although he arguably got unlucky with a .366 opponent batting average on balls in play and a 4.56 fielder-independent pitching figure, both of those marks are still extremely poor and his changeup is the only plus pitch in his repertoire. To make matters worse, he allowed a sky-high .928 OPS to left-handed batters in 2024 — effectively turning them all into rookie Ohtani — and Ohtani posted a mind-boggling 1.128 OPS against righties last season.
Shohei Ohtani O0.5 Stolen Bases (+250)
One season after becoming the first player ever to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases, it was reported that Ohtani would try to run less in order to protect himself, given that he’s likely to return to the pitcher’s mound at some point this season and also suffered a torn labrum in his left shoulder during last season’s playoffs. Still, he’s already stolen two bases this year, tied for the tenth-most in the major leagues, so it’s not like his baserunning volume has decreased that much. With how often he’s likely to be on base against Elder, the fact Elder is right-handed and will have his back to Ohtani when he’s on first base, and his sub-90 MPH average pitch velocity, he has no reason not to be willing to run. Ohtani attempts to steal bases far more frequently against right-handers.
To make matters worse for Atlanta, regular starting catcher Sean Murphy is on the 10-day injured list, so the Braves have instead been forced to start their top prospect, Drake Baldwin, behind the plate. In addition to not offering anything on offense so far, the 24-year-old has thrown out just one of nine attempted base-stealers so far in 2025, more than two percentage points worse than league average and a figure that would’ve ranked seventh-to-last among 56 qualified catchers in 2024. With a faster-than-average pop time and a stronger-than-average arm, he has all the physical tools to be a great defensive catcher eventually, but he’s only even gotten off a throw on two stolen-base attempts. The eight total steals he’s allowed are the second-most in baseball, behind only the Miami Marlins’ Nick Fortes.
