The Freeway Series continues on Saturday, with the Dodgers hosting the crosstown rival Angels. For Shohei Ohtani, it’s a chance to pick up a win against his old team. The two-time American League MVP spent the first six seasons of his career in Anaheim. What should we expect from the slugger on Saturday night?
The Dodgers enter this matchup as favorites (-218), with the over/under set at 8.5 runs (-122). Before the start of tonight’s matchup, here’s my favorite Shohei Ohtani player prop bet on DraftKings Sportsbook.
Shohei Ohtani over 1.5 total bases (-135)
Even by Shohei Ohtani standards, the past few games have been nothing short of phenomenal. Over his last ten games, the superstar is slashing .390/.469/1.024 at the plate. During that time, he’s driven in seven home runs and 16 RBIs while scoring 12 runs. Right now, the best course of action for most opposing offenses would be to give Ohtani four bases. However, hitting in front of Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman makes that a tough pill to swallow.
On most nights, the Angels wouldn’t be sending a high-level arm to the mound. That’s not the case on Saturday with Tyler Anderson on the bump. This season, the 35-year-old has recorded a 2.58 ERA, 1.06 WHIP and 39 strikeouts over 45.1 innings pitched. While the two-time All-Star doesn’t possess lights-out stuff, he’s a master at inducing fly balls.
This season, Anderson has allowed 1.39 home runs per nine innings, well above the major league average. That’s not ideal when facing one of baseball’s premier sluggers. Since 2022, only Aaron Judge has hammered more homers than Ohtani.
Over eight career plate appearances against Anderson, Ohtani has gone four-for-seven with one homer and three RBIs. Even if the four-time All-Star doesn’t go yard, it’s difficult to imagine him slowing down against anyone right now. One hard hit deep into the outfield should net two bases for Los Angeles’ face of the franchise.
