On Monday night, Major League Baseball brings a full nine-game slate of action under the lights, with many interesting matchups as new series get underway. With 18 teams in action, it’s a great night to explore some of the many options offered for starting pitcher prop bets on DraftKings Sportsbook. In this post, you can find my top plays for the Rays’ Griffin Jax, the Reds’ Chase Burns, and the Dodgers’ Emmet Sheehan.
- Griffin Jax Over 14.5 Outs Recorded (-126): Jax went over this prop in two straight starts before leaving his last outing after a line drive hit him in the back. He’s ramped back up as a starting pitcher, and he’s in a good matchup at home vs. the Tigers, who scored six total runs in their last four games, all losses.
- Chase Burns to Record a Win (+100): Burns has seven wins in 11 starts this season and four wins in six home starts. He has a favorable matchup and is looking for his fifth straight start with a W.
- Emmet Sheehan Over 5.5 Strikeouts (+105): Sheehan has gone over this prop in five of his last six starts and has a 27.2% K%. He had 6 K’s vs. ARI in just 3 1/3 innings in March.
In almost every MLB contest, starting pitching is key to deciding how the matchup will play out. DraftKings Sportsbook offers plenty of different varieties of SP prop bets, so let’s survey the field and find some fun ones to target this Monday night.
Top MLB SP Props
Griffin Jax Over 14.5 Outs Recorded (-139)
Jax left his last start after taking a line drive off his back against the Orioles. He won’t miss a start due to his back contusion, though, and he was even able to finish the inning in which he was struck.
Before his early exit, he had gone over this prop line in each of his previous two outings, working five innings against both the Blue Jays and the Orioles. He threw 66 pitches and 62 pitches in those two games, and should be fully stretched out and ready to handle a regular workload.
Jax struggled as a closer early in the year, but he has a 1.71 ERA and 3.22 FIP in his 21 innings since moving to the rotation.
He gets a great matchup against the Tigers, who are hitting only .191 as a team over the last two weeks, averaging 2.7 runs per game and only a 66 wRC+, meaning they are 34% below league average at run creation.
With such a scuffling lineup and some extra rest, Jax has a good opportunity to work through at least five innings on Monday night in the early game.
Chase Burns to Record a Win (+100)
Editor’s Note: Chase Burns was scratched from Monday night’s start due to illness. Bets will be voided since he will no longer start.
Burns has been lights out for the Reds this season. He has gone the minimum five innings to qualify for a win in each of his 11 starts and has picked up seven wins, including a win in each of his last four starts.
Burns has a 1.96 ERA and 0.96 WHIP this year with a 28.9% K%. He has 72 strikeouts in 64 1/3 innings and has been one of the most effective and consistent starters in Major League Baseball.
Burns has picked up the win in six of his last seven outings, allowing two earned runs or fewer in each of those seven starts. He beat the Phillies and the Mets on the road in his last two starts, and he’ll be in a much more favorable matchup against the light-hitting Royals on Monday. The Royals have scored the fewest runs in the majors this season with just a .305 wOBA and 89 team wRC+.
Burns should get run support on Monday as well, as I broke down in today’s MLB stacks.
Emmet Sheehan Over 5.5 Strikeouts (+105)
Sheehan has been up and down this season, working to a 3-1 record in 10 starts with a 4.70 ERA, 4.04 FIP and 1.24 WHIP. He has struggled on the road, but his strikeout numbers have been relatively consistent, whether his runs allowed were high or low.
He is averaging 5.1 K’s per game this year, but he has picked up at least six strikeouts in five of his last six outings. His last start was last Monday against the Rockies, and he picked up eight strikeouts in six innings. He had a season-high 10 strikeouts against the Cubs at the end of April at the start of his strikeout binge, and he had eight strikeouts on the road in St. Louis during that stretch as well.
In his first start of the year, Sheehan faced Arizona. He only lasted 3 1/3 innings in that outing at Dodger Stadium, giving up four runs on five hits and a walk. He still picked up six strikeouts in that shorter outing, though.
Sheehan has a high upside when he’s locked in and typically racks up strikeouts whether he gives up runs or dominates.
If you are looking to be more aggressive on Monday’s starting pitcher prop bets, you can combine the three picks in this prop to a parlay that boosts the odds to a juicy +604. Whether you play them as singles, a parlay or in a round robin format, these props are strong plays for Monday night.
