Sunday means a full slate of big league baseball — and with 15 games on the docket this afternoon, plenty of options to choose from for those of you looking to place player prop bets. Some of the game’s biggest names will be in action, so to help you sort through it all, here are three of our favorite plays of the day.
MLB player prop bets: Sunday, August 6
Brandon Woodruff, under 7.5 strikeouts (-125)
To be clear, this is no slight against Woodruff, a true ace who we’re thrilled to see finally return from a shoulder injury he suffered way back in April. But that’s the problem: The Milwaukee Brewers righty hasn’t started a Major League game in about four months, and while I expect him to pitch well against a weak Pittsburgh Pirates lineup, I’m not sure he’ll go as deep as he’ll need to in order to clear this very high number. Woodruff made three Minor League starts, with his pitch count increasing by 20 each time — from 32 to 52 to 72. Given how important he is to Milwaukee’s postseason push, it’s unlikely they let him go past 85-90 today, and eight Ks in just five innings or so feels like a lot to ask even for him.
Carlos Rodon, over 2.5 walks (+145)
Rodon is clearly still finding his footing after a month in the Yankees rotation. The lefty has allowed four or more runs in three of his last four starts — and, more importantly for our purposes here, he’s walked three or more in each of his last three. I think Rodon is a much better pitcher than that, obviously, and he’s likely to put up better numbers over the remainder of the season. His opponent on Sunday afternoon, however, has me taking this over: The Houston Astros are among the most patient teams in baseball, with an 11.6% walk rate that ranks fourth in baseball since Yordan Alvarez and Jose Altuve returned to the lineup on July 26. If Rodon doesn’t find his feel in a hurry, it could be another long day.
Ketel Marte and Christian Walker, each to record a hit (-115)
The Minnesota Twins have dusted off 35-year-old Dallas Keuchel to make a start against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Sunday, and given how ugly the lefty’s numbers were the last time we saw him — he posted a whopping 9.20 ERA across three teams in 2022 — taking some sort of Arizona prop is recommended. Of course, everyone is aware of Keuchel’s struggles, so there isn’t much juice to be had — but a same-game parlay can help tilt the odds in our favor. A switch-hitter, Marte is even better against lefties than righties, batting .307/.383/.491 this season. Walker, meanwhile, has always chewed up southpaws, and he’s got an .890 against them in 2023. They’re both excellent bets to tally at least one base knock on Sunday.
