Major League Baseball has a full Saturday of action this weekend with all 30 teams in action at some point during the day. DraftKings has contests, props and picks available all day long, but for this post, we’ll focus on a few of my favorite starting pitcher prop bets for Saturday, including plays from Luis Ortiz, Andrew Heaney and Chase Dollander.
Every day throughout the season, DraftKings Sportsbook offers many ways to get a piece of the MLB action with player props, Moneylines and picks against the spread from each MLB contest. You can also pick series winners, award winners and team futures as well, so be sure to check out all the options available on the MLB page of DK Sportsbook.
Here is a look at my top starting pitcher prop bets for this Saturday.
Best Starting Pitcher Prop Bets on DraftKings Sportsbook
Luis Ortiz 6+ hits allowed (+105)
The Guardians and Royals meet in Cleveland at 6:10 p.m. ET in between the afternoon slate and the evening slate. For DFS, this contest is only available as a showdown, but it has all the picks and props of most games, including this nice play against Luis Ortiz.
Ortiz was traded to the Guardians this past offseason from the Pirates as part of the deal that landed Spencer Horwitz in Pittsburgh and Andres Gimenez in Toronto. Ortiz slotted right into the Guardians’ rotation, but it has not been a smooth start to the season for the 26-year-old righty. In spring training, he gave up 21 runs on 23 hits in just 18 2/3 innings.
In his first regular-season start, he allowed nine hits to the Padres in San Diego, and his last time out, he gave up seven hits in six innings to the Angels. You could push this higher to get even better odds, but I’ll take him to give up at least six hits on Saturday to the Royals, who took two of three from the Orioles and three of four from the Twins before being shut out on Friday. Facing Ortiz puts them in a nice spot to bounce back Saturday night.
Starting Pitcher Race to 3 Strikeouts (Both Pitchers Must Start): Andrew Heaney over Andrew Abbott (+120)
In Cincinnati, today’s NL Central matchup is a meeting of two Andrews. Heaney has been very sharp in two starts for the Pirates since joining them this offseason, while Abbott will be making his season debut for the Reds. In this matchup, I’m going back to the fun “Race to 3 Strikeouts” as one of my favorite starting pitcher prop bets since quick hitters like this are a fun way to give your bankroll a fast boost early in the game.
Let’s look at Abbott first. Last year, the 25-year-old lefty went 10-10 in 25 starts with a 3.72 ERA, 5.04 FIP and 7.4 K/9. It was a big drop in his strikeout rate from his 9.9 K/9 in 2023. He finished last season sidelined by a shoulder strain and needed some extra time to get fully ramped up. In spring training, he had five strikeouts in seven innings, and in the minors, he totaled eight strikeouts in 10 frames for a 7.2 K/9.
Abbott will have the advantage of going first in this race to three strikeouts as the home team starting pitcher, but his strikeout rate hasn’t been extremely high, which gives Heaney a good chance.
Heaney has flashed a high strikeout ceiling during stretches of his career and looked dominant with 10 strikeouts against the Yankees in his last start. He only had two strikeouts in his first start against the Marlins, though. In spring training, he had 29 strikeouts in 20 innings, so his stuff is obviously in good form.
While he isn’t always a high-volume strikeout option, Heaney has a good shot to beat Abbott to three strikeouts, and getting him at plus-money in this prop makes it one of my favoarite starting pitcher prop bets for Saturday.
Chase Dollander 5+ strikeouts (+150)
Dollander got the call to make his MLB debut last Sunday at Coors Field against the Athletics. While he gave up four runs on seven hits in five innings, he did earn his first MLB win and showed some exciting promise.
The 23-year-old top prospect gave up two home runs, but he also showcased a fastball that got up to 99.3 MPH and racked up six strikeouts against the Athletics. In the minors, Dollander had five strikeouts in four innings this year after posting 169 strikeouts in 118 innings (12.9 K/9) last season.
Even if he doesn’t get the win or pitch a shutout, his excellent stuff gives him a good chance to get to at least five strikeouts. The fact that this sits at +150 shows how tough the matchup will be against the Padres, but it’s another nice plus-money option in my top starting pitcher prop bets for this Saturday.
