MLB props for Sat., 8/27: George Springer looks good for a hit
For those following along on Bark Bets this week, you know how great this MLB week has been. Just because it's the weekend doesn't mean the picks need to stop. We have a full batch of baseball games to sift through.
Alek Manoah 5+ Ks, Yu Darvish 5+ Ks, Sonny Gray 5+ Ks (+122 FD)
Alek Manoah will see the Angels this afternoon, a team that is striking out at the second-highest rate against RHP. A common theme lately has been finding a team that both strikes out at a high clip and struggles to hit and get on base against the pitcher's handedness. That's Los Angeles, as their wRC+ ranks fifth-worst against righties over the past month.
Manoah has gotten 5+ Ks in 19 of 24 starts this season and had 9 against the Angels when he saw them in May. The Toronto starter has 6+ strikeouts in 13 of 24 and has 15 Ks over his past two starts.
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Yu Darvish looks great at this 5 K number. He's hit that mark in 13 straight games and 18 of 24 on the year. He draws a favorable opponent today in the Royals, who own the fifth-highest K rate against RHP in the past 30 days and the third-lowest wRC+. That combination makes me confident that Darvish can deliver six-plus innings. He's gone for 6+ Ks in nine of his past ten starts.
Sonny Gray brings up the rear for our parlay play today, and the Giants are a team we'd like to continue targeting. Ten straight right handed pitchers have gone over their strikeout total against San Francisco, and their wRC+ ranks ninth-worst against righties.
Gray has reached 5 Ks in six straight starts and has 16 strikeouts in his past two starts.
.5u: Manoah, Darvish and Gray 6+ Ks (+364 FD)
A strategy we've been deploying for a few weeks is to move up each of our pitcher targets to one higher strikeout, parlayed together. We'll be risking just a half-unit on this play.
George Springer/Nick Castellanos 1+ hit each (+111 FD)
Both of these hit parlays don't require that much explanation from me. George Springer is batting .500 against Shohei Ohtani in 12 plate appearances and is currently riding a ten-game hit streak. He has 1+ hit in 23 of his last 30 games and is hitting better against RHP.
Nick Castellanos is here simply because of the matchup against Tyler Beede. In four at-bats against Beede, Castellanos has four hits. For the math majors at home, that's a 1.000 average. That's something I'll have to follow. Castellanos has 1+ hit in 15 of his last 16 games and in 23 of his past 30.
Harold Ramirez, Mookie Betts & Jeff McNeil 1+ hit each (+155 FD)
I bet this yesterday to success, and the combination is looking quite nice again today. Harold Ramirez is currently on a ten-game hit streak and has 1+ hit in 26 of his past 30. He is batting much better against lefties, which he'll have to start today in Rich Hill. Ramirez is 1-3 against Hill.
Betts is fresh off a four-hit night and will see Sandy Alcantara today, who he is 4-7 against up to this point. Betts has a hit in 22 of his past 30 games.
McNeil is rolling. He's got a hit in 26 of his past 30, and draws himself a favorable matchup against Kyle Freeland. Freeland has allowed 6+ hits in 11 of his past 12 starts.
That will do it for my day on the diamond. Good luck and enjoy your weekend!
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