Thursday is get-away day across the league, but among the 20 teams in action, there are a lot of great matchups for bettors to choose from.
The headliner on Thursday will take place in Arlington, TX, between the LA Angels and the home Texas Rangers. Shohei Ohtani will take the bump against Nathan Eovaldi in a premier pitching duel, with both hurlers backed by lineups in the top ten of the league in runs per game.
Texas leads all of MLB with 6.2 runs per contest, while the Angels’ 4.9 average is eighth in baseball. Ohtani is striking out over 12 batters per nine innings, and Eovaldi is looking to become the second pitcher to reach the 10-win mark in 2023.
Marcus Stroman and the Cubs host the Pirates, who send Johan Oviedo to the mound. Stroman has been dominant of late, winning his last five starts, including a one-hit shutout against Tampa Bay on May 29. Oviedo has been consistent for Pittsburgh, striking out 27 batters and allowing nine earned runs over his last 29.1 innings.
In the day’s final game, the Dodgers host the White Sox in an interleague matchup where one of LA’s latest pitching prospects, Michael Grove, faces last year’s AL Cy Young runner-up, Dylan Cease.
We’ll splash around in the prop pool for this afternoon and evening’s matchups and present our best bet card next.
George Springer UNDER 0.5 Runs
The Jays face Taylor Wells in Baltimore this afternoon, and we’ve detailed how effective he’s been at his home ballpark this season in a recent best bets article where we cashed in on his strikeout total.
Springer homered yesterday and has scored a run in four straight games since Saturday. He’s also 1-for-3 against Wells in their only previous matchup, with that hit being a homer.
Springer has feasted on starting pitching in this O’s series, with all three of his hits coming in the first three innings. We’ll back Wells to keep him off the base paths and the Baltimore pen to continue to shut down Springer late in games.
Shea Langeliers UNDER 0.5 Total Bases
Langliers has seven hits and one home run in 38 plate appearances this month while batting between seventh and ninth in the A’s order.
He’ll face Tampa’s pitching prospect Taj Bradley for the first time on Thursday. Bradley has been particularly effective on the road compared to some struggles at Tropicana Field. Opposing hitters are slashing just .200/.262/.293 against the young righty in four starts.
Nick Castellanos OVER 1.5 Total Bases
Castellanos has continued to rake in June, hitting safely in 11 of 13 games with multi-hit efforts in seven. He’s raised his OPS by over 50 points in the month.
The Phillies face Ryne Nelson this afternoon. Nelson has allowed 18 hits and has more walks than strikeouts in his last 15.1 innings. We like Castellanos to continue spraying the ball to all fields in this matchup.
Mackenzie Gore OVER 5.0 Strikeouts
The Nats trot out Gore for this series finale against the Astros, in which they’re looking to avoid a sweep. The 24-year-old lefty has been volatile in his second big league season, as evidenced by his 11 strikeouts against Kansas City on May 28 compared with giving up two homers in recent starts against the Padres and Braves without making it to the sixth inning.
One consistent aspect of his game has been the punchout. He’s averaging 10.8 Ks/9, up from 9.3 as a rookie, and he’s been very effective against right-handed hitters this season, allowing a .683 OPS to 217 hitters.
The Astros started eight righties yesterday and are without Yordan Alvarez for this matchup. We like Gore to strike out at least six batters tonight.
