On Monday, Major League Baseball has a big schedule with seven games in the afternoon and five more under the lights. The earliest game gets underway in Detroit at 1:10 p.m. ET, with the final game beginning at 9:38 p.m. ET in Los Angeles. It should be an all-day marathon of baseball, and there are plenty of exciting options to consider from the myriad of starting pitcher props available on DraftKings. With 24 starting pitchers taking the mound, check out my top three starting pitcher props for the day highlighted below. My top three picks for Monday include props for Kevin Gausman, Zack Littell and Ryan Weathers.
On Sunday, I hit on two of my three strikeout props , wrapping up a very strong week for my pitcher props. Let’s get rolling with some more green on the board this Monday.
Every day of the season, DraftKings Sportsbook offers multiple ways to get in on the 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 DraftKings Sportsbook.
Best Starting Pitcher Prop Bets on DraftKings Sportsbook
Kevin Gausman over 5.5 strikeouts (+110)
Gausman and the Jays are in Texas for Memorial Day to start their series against the Rangers at 4:05 p.m. ET. Gausman will be dueling Jacob deGrom in what should be a low-scoring game, but Gausman is the one who gets my attention in my starting pitcher props due to these very favorable odds on his strikeout over/under.
In his 10 starts, Gausman has a total of 55 strikeouts for an average of 5.5 strikeouts per start. He has a 24.4% K% and a 8.5 K/9 in his 58 innings. In his last start, Gausman dominated the Padres, throwing seven shutout innings and racking up nine strikeouts.
For this prop, he’ll need just six strikeouts, and he had at least that many in three of his last four starts and six of his last eight. Gausman hasn’t issued a walk in his last three starts (13 innings), and his control has been on point even when he has given up runs.
The matchup against the Rangers is a favorable one for Gausman to hit this prop, since the Rangers have a 24.1% K% over the last two weeks, which is the fourth-highest mark in the majors. The Rangers have 59 strikeouts in the last week over six games, for an average of 9.9 strikeouts per game. Since the Rangers are striking out so much, Gausman should be able to get at least six Ks on Monday afternoon.
Zack Littell under 2.5 earned runs allowed (+100)
The Rays host the Twins on Monday night in the start of their new series in Tampa. Littell will get the call, and I think he’ll allow two earned runs or fewer making this one of the best starting pitcher prop bets on the board. Getting it at +100 is a really nice number for this prop since he has been so good lately, especially at the Rays’ new home at George M. Steinbrenner Field.
Littell has a 4.25 ERA and 5.43 FIP on the season, but he has allowed two earned runs or fewer in four of his last five starts, including home starts against the Astros and Brewers. The Angels roughed Littell up in his first home start of the season, but he has been under this line in his three home starts since then.
He doesn’t typically go extremely deep into games, averaging under six innings per outing, but for this prop, that doesn’t impact his over/under. In fact, an early exit could help as long as he allows under 2.5 runs before departing.
His recent form has been strong enough to make him a good play on Monday night, especially against the Twins, who have only scored 16 runs over the last week while hitting .208 as a team with a .282 wOBA that ranks in the bottom six in the majors.
Race to Three Strikeouts: Ryan Weathers over Randy Vasquez (+135)
In one of the fun matchups scheduled for under the lights, the Marlins stay on the West Coast and head from Anaheim to San Diego as they take on the Padres, who are coming home after a tough 2-7 stretch over their last nine games. Former Friar Ryan Weathers gets the call for his third start of the season and will go up against Randy Vasquez on Monday at 8:40 p.m. ET.
Vasquez has been solid for the Padres, going 3-4 with a 3.49 ERA but a 5.08 FIP in his 10 outings. He hasn’t been a huge strikeout producer, though. He averages just 4.96 K/9 with a 12.6% strikeout rate.
Weathers is typically a much more strikeout-reliant option. He has nine strikeouts in his 10 innings this season, all of which have come against the Cubs, who are very good at strikeout suppression. He got a late start to the season due to a forearm injury. While on his rehab assignment, he had 13 strikeouts in 10 2/3 innings. He had an 8.3 K/9 and 21.8% K% last season and has a 24.3% K% in his limited work this year.
Not only has Weathers been better at picking up strikeouts, but he also has a better matchup since the Padres rank in the top 10 with a 22.9% K% in the last two weeks, while the Marlins rank in the bottom 10 with a 19.1% K% over that span.
The reason that Weathers is at plus money in this race to three strikeouts, is that he’s on the road. Since the home pitcher gets to pitch each inning first, Vasquez has that advantage in this race. However, with the better matchup and better stuff, I like Weathers to overcome that disadvantage and win this race on Monday night. He is also going against his former team, which could be a reason he comes out extra fired up.
