After a disappointing 1-2 card in yesterday’s MLB player props market, our weekly record sits at 3-6 for the week. Thursday brings an abbreviated six-game slate to sweat, with one game in particular standing out above all others. That’s the matchup between the Athletics and Dodgers, as the defending champs are once again set up for a big night at the dish.
MLB Player Prop Picks for May 15
Freddie Freeman Over 1.5 Hits, Runs, and RBI (-145 at Bet365)
First up, we’re backing Freddie Freeman to exceed 1.5 hits, runs, and RBI. The Dodgers first baseman enters play ranked second in MLB in batting average and OPS, and sixth in RBI.
Freeman is slashing .426/.463/.787 in May, and has absolutely mashed versus right-handed pitching all season.
Freeman boasts a slash rate of .379/.446/.736 against right-handers, with 7 of his 9 home runs and 27 of his 33 RBI coming against them. That’s bad news for the Athletics and righty Osvaldo Bido. The 28-year-old is fresh off two of his worst starts of the season, allowing a combined 7 runs, 3 homers, and 11 hits over 10+ innings.
Bido is coughing up a career-high slugging percentage to enemy hitters and the worst hard-hit rate of his MLB tenure. His strikeout rate has never been lower, while 19 of the 47 hits surrendered (40.4%) have gone for extra bases.
Shohei Ohtani 2+ Hits (+160 at FanDuel)
Sticking with the same game, we’re also betting 2+ hits for Shohei Ohtani at great plus-money odds. The reigning NL MVP has cashed this prop three times in his last five games, and is absolutely tearing the cover off the ball.
Ohtani is making hard contact at a 65% rate, the highest clip in MLB. After a slow start by his standards in April, he’s heated up in May. He’s slashing .354/.456/.854 this month, with 6 homeruns and 11 extra-base hits in only 48 at-bats.
Joshua Rojas Under 0.5 Hits (+155 at Bet365)
For our final wager, we’re going plus money hunting with a fade of Chicago’s Joshua Rojas. The White Sox third baseman is slashing .167/.286/.167 over his eight MLB games this season, striking out more than twice as often (9) as he’s recording a hit.
Rojas enters play hitless in three straight, and four of five overall, and has a brutal history against Cincy starter Nick Martinez. Rojas is 0-for-9 all-time versus Martinez, with a pair of strikeouts.
As for the Cincy right-hander, he’s yielded two runs or less in three of his past four outings, surrendering five hits or less three times as well.
