Best MLB player prop bets for Monday, May 29

Memorial Day means a surprisingly full slate around MLB, and that means lots of potential places to look for prop bets. To help you sift through all those options, here are our three favorite plays for today’s games.

MLB player prop bets: Monday, May 29

Nathan Eovaldi, over 18.5 outs recorded (+100)

I’ll confess to being a bit confused by this number. All we need is for Eovaldi to pitch into the seventh inning on Monday, and the righty is averaging 8.1 innings pitched over his last five starts — with just four total runs allowed over that timeframe. Now he gets to take on a Detroit Tigers unit that ranks in the bottom five of the league in OPS against right-handers, at pitcher-friendly Comerica Park to boot. This Herculean run is bound to cool off eventually, but it’s hard to see that happening on Monday.

Matthew Boyd, under 4.5 strikeouts (+100)

Opposing Eovaldi on Monday night will be Boyd, who’s struggled to a 5.74 ERA in nine starts so far this year. He’s only struck out five or more batters in three of those outings, and getting there against this Texas Rangers lineup will be no easy task. Texas ranks third in all of baseball in OPS against left-handed pitching, with a strikeout rate well below league average. Boyd has struggled all year against righties, with a .271/.347/.457 line allowed and a pedestrian 20.8% K rate, and he should face plenty of them on Monday — the only lefty regulars for Texas are Corey Seager and Nathaniel Lowe, who also happen to be two of their best hitters overall. It’s hard to see him clearing this number against that meat-grinder of a lineup.

Wilmer Flores, over 1.5 total bases (+115)

Flores has long been a lefty-killer, and this year is no different, with a .508 slugging percentage and seven extra-base hits (including four homers). He’s faced his opponent on Monday, Pittsburgh Pirates southpaw Rich Hill, 14 times in his career, and he’s turned those into five hits, two doubles and a home run. Hill has struggled against right-handed hitters this season, with a .268/.321/.503 slash line and a whopping 24 extra-base hits allowed (16 doubles, eight homers). Given the extreme platoon advantage, I’ll take the plus odds on Flores finding at least one extra-base knock on Monday.