MLB Betting: 3 Best Player Prop Bets for Wednesday 8/14/24

Player props can be useful in a variety of ways -- from taking advantage of them straight up to measuring a player's potential to produce in daily fantasy baseball on FanDuel. Here, we're going to focus on the former.

Utilizing our MLB projections -- which are powered by numberFire -- as a guide, here are some MLB player props bets that look appealing via the MLB odds at FanDuel Sportsbook.

Please note that betting lines and projections may change throughout the day after this article is published. Also, the weather may be an issue in some locations.

Best MLB Player Props Today

Bryan Woo Over 5.5 Strikeouts (+132)

Don't look now, but Bryan Woo is rolling again.

The Seattle Mariners righty has had his share of ups and downs this season, but when he's on, he's on.

That's been the case over his last two starts, during which Woo's given up just 10 hits and three runs while fanning 13 over 13 2/3 innings.

He cracked six strikeouts in both outings -- the most recent of which came against the Detroit Tigers. With Detroit on tap again tonight, Woo's in a nice spot to go over 5.5 strikeouts, available at +132 odds on FanDuel Sportsbook.

Woo's dropped his season ERA to 2.27 with his most recent heroics, and that's backed up by strong ERA indicators (2.24 xERA; 3.85 xFIP; 3.96 SIERA).

His K% is down to 19.2% this season, and that's typically a low enough number to scare me off strikeout props. But his 27.8% called-plus-swinging-strike rate (CSW%) is actually up compared to last year when his K% was at 25.1%.

The biggest factor in Woo's favor is his matchup. We just saw him fan seven Tigers in his most recent start, and Detroit has racked up more than their fair share of whiffs against righties. In that split, they have baseball's ninth-highest K% (23.8%). Overall, they have the league's fifth-highest CSW% (28.4%).

That puts Woo in a strong position to go over 5.5 strikeouts for the third straight outing.

Juan Soto to Record an RBI (+100)

Considering the kind of heater Juan Soto is on right now, it's a bit jarring to see him with the third-shortest odds to record an RBI (+100) in tonight's New York Yankees-Chicago White Sox clash.

Soto homered three times and drove in all four Yankee runs last night. He's cranked out five long balls in his last three games and has recorded an RBI in four of his last six appearances.

In another juicy matchup, this time against Chicago's Davis Martin, I like Soto to stay hot and record another RBI.

The right-handed Martin has only tossed 12.1 major league innings this season, but he's allowed five runs and walked seven. He's surrendered a 47.1% fly-ball rate, 14.7% barrel rate and 41.2% hard-hit rate, so it's not like opposing hitters have struggled to generate quality contact against him.

Soto, meanwhile, has mashed righties this season. In that split, the lefty hitter has a .444 wOBA and 193 wRC+. Overall, he's batted .335 with men on base and .356 with men in scoring position -- something that could happen a lot with New York sporting the day's highest implied total (5.66).

Our MLB projections project Soto for 1.16 RBI, our highest RBI projection of the day.

With another soft matchup on deck, I like Juan Soto to stay hot and drive in another RBI.

Elly De La Cruz to Record 2+ Total Bases (-105)

Although Elly De La Cruz is in the midst of a mild cold spell (3-for-20 in the last five games), a home date with Kyle Gibson could be just what he needs to get back on track.

Gibson has pitched to a mediocre 3.99 ERA this season, backed up by less-than-stellar ERA indicators (4.85 xERA; 4.02 xFIP; 4.28 SIERA). He's surrendered a 9.0% barrel rate and 39.7% hard-hit rate overall, but his numbers have been dramatically worse against lefty hitters.

Against that split, Gibson has allowed a .354 wOBA and .471 SLG. Of the 19 doubles Gibson's let up this season, 16 have come from left-handed hitters.

That bodes well for Elly De La Cruz's chances of recording 2+ total bases.

Elly has a .394 wOBA against right-handed pitchers this season, and his ISO jumps to .277 in this split. He's faced twice as many righties as lefties but has three times as many doubles (21 compared to six) and home runs (16 to five) against them.

That makes righties the split to target for Elly, and it puts him in a strong spot to record 2+ total bases tonight.

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The above author is a FanDuel employee and is not eligible to compete in public daily fantasy contests or place sports betting wagers on FanDuel. The advice provided by the author does not necessarily represent the views of FanDuel. Taking the author’s advice will not guarantee a successful outcome. You should use your own judgment when participating in daily fantasy contests or placing sports wagers.