:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/72337796/1258255716.0.jpg)
Another full, 15-game Saturday slate around MLB means another robust menu of player props to choose from. Here are three of our favorite plays of the day.
MLB player prop bets: Saturday, June 3
Eury Perez, under 1.5 earned runs (+125)
Perez put together arguably the best outing of his young career last time out, blanking the Los Angeles Angels over five innings while allowing just two hits. His command has been a little spotty so far, but the Miami Marlins righty has shown plenty of glimpses of why he was among the top pitching prospects in baseball entering the season, with a gaudy 88th-percentile whiff rate. Now he gets to go up against an Oakland Athletics lineup that’s been almost inconceivably bad of late, with a 41 wRC+ that’s a whopping 30 points below the next-lowest team in the league. I’d be shocked if Perez gets knocked around on Saturday.
Michael Grove, under 4.5 strikeouts (-135)
Grove struggled mightily across his first four starts of the season, posting an 8.44 ERA and 1.750 WHIP before landing on the IL with a groin injury. Saturday will be his first start since, and there are plenty of reasons to be skeptical of him hitting this number against the New York Yankees.
The righty has only cleared this number once all year, largely thanks to an inability to miss bats (he owns a puny 14th-percentile whiff rate). It’s also an open question just how long the Dodgers will let him go given that this is his first game back from more than a month of rehab — Grove made two Minor League starts in late May, topping out at just 77 pitches. With a somewhat limited pitch count and a Yankees offense that’s swinging the bats much better lately, he should fall short of this total.
Alex Bregman, over 1.5 total bases (+120)
After a slow start, Bregman has heated up a bit lately, currently riding a nine-game hitting streak during which he’s slashing .400/.432/.543 with a homer and two doubles. I like that streak to continue on Saturday against Angels lefty Patrick Sandoval, against whom Bregman is a .455/.539/1.000 lifetime hitter — including a matchup back in May in which the Houston Astros star went 2-for-4 with a triple. Sandoval has been far from his best lately, and I’ll take Bregman to have a big day at the plate at plus odds.