Phillies vs. Dodgers: Bryce Harper Over 1.5 Total Bases (+135) at Bet365
Pick Summary
- Guardians vs. Yankees: Gerrit Cole Over 6.5 Strikeouts (-128) at BetMGM
- Guardians vs. Yankees: Gerrit Cole 18.5 Outs Recorded (-115) at Bet365
- Phillies vs. Dodgers: Bryce Harper Over 1.5 Total Bases (+135) at Bet365
- Giants vs. Astros Hunter Brown Over 6.5 Strikeouts (+100) at BetMGM
Two-time National League MVP Bryce Harper will make his season debut for the Philadelphia Phillies on Tuesday night at the Los Angeles Dodgers. Harper is one of our four player prop picks for today.
Cleveland Guardians vs. New York Yankees
Tuesday, May 02, 2023 – 07:05 PM EDT at Yankee Stadium
Gerrit Cole (New York Yankees)
- Over 6.5 Strikeouts
- Over 18.5 Outs
Note that the Yankees will not get back superstar outfielder and reigning AL MVP Aaron Judge as he was placed on the injured list Monday. Judge hadn’t played since last Thursday when he left with a hip injury. He played in 157 of New York’s 162 regular-season games last year.
While Judge ended the Bombers’ AL MVP drought last year, right-hander Gerrit Cole could become the first Yankee since Roger Clemens in 2001 to win the AL Cy Young as Cole is the +300 favorite.
The Prop Pick
Cole is 5-0 with a 1.11 ERA and 0.84 WHIP and it’s not as if he has been facing bad teams like Oakland over and over again. The 32-year-old is yet to allow more than two runs or six hits.
Opponents are hitting .169 off Cole. His 1.11 ERA is the second-lowest ERA by a Yankees starter through his first six games of a season in the last 65 years (since 1959), trailing only Phil Niekro’s 0.99 ERA in 1984.
Cole has had the Guardians’ number as well. He won in Cleveland on April 11, allowing two runs and five hits over seven. In the 2022 regular season, he was 2-0 with a 1.42 ERA against the Guardians. And in last year’s ALDS, Cole won both starts, allowing three runs over 13.1 innings.
At home this year, Cole is an absurd 3-0 with a 0.33 ERA in four starts. The only Cleveland hitter with good splits off him is Jose Ramirez (10-for-30 with two homers, seven RBIs).
MLB Prop Pick: Over 6.5 Strikeouts (-128) at BetMGM
MLB Prop Pick: Over 18.5 Outs (-115) at Bet365
Philadelphia Phillies vs. Los Angeles Dodgers
Tuesday, May 02, 2023 – 10:10 PM EDT at Dodger Stadium
Bryce Harper (Philadelphia Phillies)
- Over 1.5 Bases
This should get a nice bump in TV ratings and in betting action with the return of one of the most popular players in the sport in two-time National League MVP Bryce Harper of the Phillies.
You don’t often hear about non-pitchers having Tommy John Surgery, but that’s what Harper had about two weeks after Philadelphia lost the 2022 World Series to Houston to repair a torn ulnar collateral ligament.
The Prop Pick
Dr. Neal ElAttrache performed the surgery on Nov. 23 in Los Angeles and Harper had his final checkup Monday and was cleared to play Tuesday – exactly 160 days after the surgery.
Harper was limited to DH most of last season because of the injury and will be playing there for the foreseeable future this year as well, although the club is hoping he can play some first base by this summer. He just can’t throw the ball much following the surgery.
He is 3-for-12 career with a double, two homers, and six RBIs in 12 career at-bats off Dodgers lefty starter Julio Urias (3-3, 4.41). Urias also has been roughed up in back-to-back starts this year.
Harper has a sense for showmanship, so you know he wants to do something memorable in his return. He is a .292 regular-season hitter at Dodger Stadium with six homers and six doubles in 108 at-bats.
MLB Prop Pick: Over 1.5 Total Bases (+135) at Bet365
San Francisco Giants vs. Houston Astros
Tuesday, May 02, 2023 – 08:10 PM EDT at Minute Maid Park
Hunter Brown (Houston Astros)
- Over 6.5 Strikeouts
The Giants of course lost out on Aaron Judge and Carlos Correa (sort of) this offseason, and their lineup is pretty bad.
Worse right now because both outfielder Mike Yastrzemski and shortstop Brandon Crawford were placed on the injured list Monday with Cal Stevenson and Brett Wiseley called up from Triple-A Sacramento to take their roster spots.
Yastrzemski was diagnosed with a Grade 1 strain, which generally carries a 2-4 week recovery period. He’s the bigger loss, batting .292 with five homers and 14 RBIs while playing good defense.
The Prop Pick
Astros hard-throwing AL Rookie of the Year candidate Hunter Brown could be lined up for a dominating effort against a lineup that hasn’t seen him. The 24-year-old Brown got a late-season taste of the majors in 2022 and was very good, and he has carried it over into the rotation this year at 3-0 with a 2.37 ERA and 1.05 WHIP.
The Detroit native last time out dominated the MLB-best Tampa Bay Rays, allowing two hits and no runs with eight Ks over seven. He threw 62 of his 95 pitches for strikes, and all but one of his 21 outs was either a groundout or a strikeout.
Brown has gone seven innings in three starts and only 4.2 in the other two. We’ll hope for the good version at home against a weak lineup. The Giants whiffed nine total times in Monday’s 7-3 loss.
MLB Prop Pick: Over 6.5 Strikeouts (+100) at BetMGM
