Bassitt, Bieber Head Top MLB Today Props

MLB batting leader Luis Arraez and former Rookie of the Year Julio Rodriguez are among the prominent players dealing with injury concerns heading into Friday’s action.

Keep in mind that the road favorites went 2-1 on Thursday. The Atlanta Braves and Detroit Tigers are road favorites on Friday.

According to our MLB odds, the Atlanta Braves (+275) have the best odds to win the World Series. The Los Angeles Dodgers (+450), Houston Astros (+600), Baltimore Orioles (+700) and Tampa Bay Rays (+1000) aren’t far behind.

Friday’s Best Prop Bets

When looking at the MLB odds on Sept. 22, here are some to consider.

With the Toronto Blue Jays fighting it out for a playoff spot, expect to see Chris Bassitt bring his best stuff for the series opener against Tampa Bay. Bassitt has pitched at least seven innings in three of his last four starts so keep that in mind when looking at the +130 odds for him to go over 18½ outs. He also has +120 odds to go over 5½ strikeouts.

Ozzie Albies of the Atlanta Braves is hitting .433 with three home runs and seven extra-base hits in 30 career at-bats against Patrick Corbin of the Washington Nationals, so roll with the -130 odds for Albies to go over 1½ total bases.

Texas Rangers rookie third baseman Josh Jung is hitting .357 in the three games since coming off the injured list so that makes the +145 moneyline for him to top 1½ total bases pretty tempting.

It can be risky to go with a pitcher coming off the injured list. However, Shane Bieber of the Cleveland Guardians is not just any pitcher so why not go with the +125 odds for him to go over 4½ strikeouts against Baltimore?

Too Little, Too Late for the Padres?

For most of the season, whenever the San Diego Padres were mentioned, it usually had something to do with being an underachieving group of stars headed to the offseason with no postseason.

Things are a little different now that the Padres take a seven-game winning streak into a weekend series with the St. Louis Cardinals.

San Diego is just four games out of the final playoff spot with nine games left to play and all of those games are against teams currently with losing records.

There are multiple teams that the Padres need to jump over to secure one of the wild-card spots. The division leaders are likely pulling for the other teams in the running to keep the Padres out of the playoffs because this could be one dangerous team come playoff time.

Ready for the Weekend

This could be a fun weekend of baseball with three of the series featuring a pair of teams with winning records.

The Milwaukee Brewers turn to former Cy Young Award winner Corbin Burnes in the series opener against Miami on Friday. He could factor into MLB parlays today.

The Brewers are on the verge of clinching the National League Central Division title with an eight-game lead on the Chicago Cubs and nine games left to play. Miami is tied with the Cubs for the final playoff spot in the NL with Cincinnati just a half-game back.

The Toronto Blue Jays continue to make a push for the playoffs when they head to St. Petersburg to meet up with the playoff-bound Tampa Bay Rays. Toronto is currently holding down the second wild-card spot in the American. However, that could change at any time with a razor-thin margin thanks to Seattle and Texas nipping at the heels of the Blue Jays.

The most compelling of the weekend series could take place in the Lone Star State with the Texas Rangers playing host to the Seattle Mariners.

Texas and Seattle are tied for the final wild-card spot in the American League and both are just a half-game behind first-place Houston in the American League West race.

Saving His Best for Last

Gerrit Cole didn’t disappoint in his final home start of the season.

Cole allowed two hits and one run with nine strikeouts in eight innings as the New York Yankees topped the Blue Jays 5-3.

Gerrit Cole strengthening his case for CY Young pic.twitter.com/vMWjVIWkQf

— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) September 22, 2023

Things got interesting in the ninth inning when Clay Holmes allowed a pair of runs and the tying run came to the plate after a costly error by the Yankees. Holmes got Spencer Horwitz to ground out to end the game to give Cole his 14th win.

Cole leads the American League with a 2.75 ERA and is third with 217 strikeouts as he continues to lead the way according to the MLB betting lines in the odds for winning the American League Cy Young Award. It was not the only pitching performance of note on Thursday.

Emmet Sheehan didn’t allow a hit in 4⅔ innings as the Los Angeles Dodgers topped slumping San Francisco 7-2. Tarik Skubal of the Detroit Tigers allowed two hits and no runs with 10 strikeouts in seven innings during a 7-3 victory over Oakland.

Help on the Way

Tampa Bay could be adding some star power to its lineup.

The Rays are expected to call up their top prospect, Junior Caminero, as the Rays look to catch the Baltimore Orioles in the American League East race.

Caminero, a top-10 minor league prospect, hit .309 with 20 home runs in 81 games with Double-A Montgomery.

Caminero has been primarily a third baseman, but he does have the ability to play other infielder positions.

Injury Update

Here’s a look at some of the injuries that could impact Friday’s games.

Seattle outfielder Julio Rodriguez is dealing with a hand injury that has him questionable to face the Texas Rangers.

When Milwaukee opens a series with Miami, Brewers outfielder Christian Yelich as well as Marlins infielder Luis Arraez and Jake Burger are all questionable.

Infielders Jeimer Candelario and Nick Madigral of the Chicago Cubs both landed on the injured list.

Infielder Brandon Lowe of the Tampa Bay Rays left the last game with a knee injury and he is questionable to be in the lineup against Toronto, as is outfielder Luke Raley due to a neck issue.

Boston Red Sox relief pitcher Kenley Jansen is expected to be activated off the COVID-19 list. However, infielder Luis Urias is questionable to play against the White Sox with a calf injury.

New York Mets outfielder DJ Stewart is questionable against Philadelphia due to a wrist injury.