This is an interesting time of the year in Major League Baseball. Top prospects start either being sent up or down from the minor leagues. The contenders begin to distance themselves from the pretenders. This is also when the top players begin to feel comfortable as the weather improves.
Not surprisingly, players from teams expected to compete for the World Series title are among those trending in the right direction both on the field and in the MLB lines.
Below is a breakdown of the players who are on a roll and others who had some issues in recent days to help the MLB betting online crowd who might be interested in some prop bets.
Who’s Hot
American League Hitters
Yordan Alvarez, DH, Houston Astros: Alvarez makes this list for the second week in a row. He is hitting .500 with a double, triple, three home runs and seven RBIs over his last six games. The way he is going, the sportsbook will have no choice but to improve his American League Most Valuable Player odds.
Byron Buxton, OF, Minnesota Twins: Four of Buxton’s last six hits have gone for extra bases as he has two doubles and two home runs over his last four games. He is hitting .375 over his last four games.
Salvador Perez, C, Kansas City Royals: Perez has five extra-base hits, including two home runs in his last five games. He has scored four times and driven in seven runs during that stretch.
Santiago Espinal, IF, Toronto Blue Jays: Espinal often can be overshadowed by some of his teammates on the star-studded Blue Jays. However, Espinal’s recent surge has been hard to overlook. He is hitting .417 with two doubles, two homers, five runs scored and five more driven in over his last five games.
Marcus Semien, IF, Texas Rangers: Semien has been doing a little bit of everything for the Rangers over the last week with four home runs and four stolen bases in his last six games. No other American League player has multiple homers and stolen bases over that span.
Sensational Semien #StraightUpTX pic.twitter.com/pUL74UQyc4
— Texas Rangers (@Rangers) June 8, 2022
National League Hitters
Ronald Acuna Jr., OF, Atlanta Braves: Acuna has three home runs in his last three games. He has seven hits in his last 13 at-bats.
Jake Cronenworth, IF, San Diego Padres: No player in baseball has more RBIs (14) than Cronenworth does over the last seven games. He has multiple RBIs in four of his last five games.
Garrett Cooper, 1B, Miami Marlins: Cooper has 12 hits in his last 23 at-bats with three extra-base hits in that five-game stretch.
Bryce Harper, DH, Philadelphia Phillies: An elbow injury has kept Harper from playing in the field since mid-May but he is more than healthy enough to swing the bat. Harper has four home runs and 12 RBIs over his last five games.
Tyler Stephenson, C, Cincinnati Reds: Stephenson is hitting .450 with seven RBIs over his last five games.
American League Pitchers
Shane Bieber, Cleveland Guardians: Bieber is starting to get into a groove. He has allowed six hits and two runs with 17 strikeouts in his last two starts.
Diego Castillo, Seattle Mariners: Castillo has allowed one hit and no runs with six strikeouts over three innings in his last three appearances.
Emmanuel Clase, Cleveland Guardians: Clase has converted his last three save opportunities. In his last four games, he has given up one hit with six strikeouts and no walks over four innings of work.
Nathan Eovaldi, Boston Red Sox: Eovaldi is 2-0 with no runs allowed and 13 strikeouts in 11 innings over his last two starts.
Justin Verlander, Houston Astros: While some veteran pitchers have been sidelined recently, Verlander shows little signs of slowing down. He struck out 12 in seven innings in his last start with one run and six hits given up.
National League Pitchers
Roansy Contreras, Pittsburgh Pirates: Contreras allowed four hits and one run with eight strikeouts over 5.2 innings during his last outing.
Giovanny Gallegos, St. Louis Cardinals: In his last two relief appearances, Gallegos struck out six batters, walked on and gave up two hits and no earned runs over three innings.
MacKenzie Gore, San Diego Padres: Gore allowed three hits and no runs with 10 strikeouts over six innings in his most recent start.
Josiah Gray, Washington Nationals: Gray is 1-0 with an ERA of 0.82 and 15 strikeouts in 11 innings during his last two games.
Hunter Greene, Cincinnati Reds: The fireballing rookie allowed one hit, no runs with no walks and eight strikeouts in seven innings the last time he took to the mound.
Who’s Not
American League Hitters
Brandon Marsh, OF, Los Angeles Angels: Marsh has two hits in his last 23 at-bats with seven strikeouts during that time for an Angels team that has lost 14 games in a row.
Josh Donaldson, 3B, New York Yankees: Donaldson is 3 for 18 over the last five games. He does have five walks during that stretch.
Owen Miller, IF, Cleveland Guardians: Miller has one hit in his last 16 at-bats and he has struck out four times in his last three contests.
Abraham Toro, IF, Seattle Mariners: Toro is 2 for 23 over his last six games although one of those hits was a double.
Bobby Witt Jr., IF, Kansas City Royals: The Rookie of the Year candidate has had the ups and downs that rookies tend to deal with. He started the month of June by going 2 for 23 before recording two hits on Wednesday.
National League Hitters
Jesus Aguilar, 1B, Miami Marlins: Aguilar is 3 for 21 with one extra-base hit in his last five games.
Mookie Betts, OF, Los Angeles Dodgers: It’s been a strange season to date for the MVP candidate with plenty of highs and lows. He is headed in the wrong direction recently with one hit over his last 13 at-bats. He is batting .182 in his last five contests.
Those who bet online aren’t going to let a couple of disappointing performances keep them from believing in Betts as a legitimate MVP candidate.
Nick Castellanos, OF, Philadelphia Phillies: While his team is heating up, Castellanos has just three hits and is hitting .158 over his last five games.
Brandon Nimmo, OF, New York Mets: Nimmo has three hits over his last six games with a .150 batting average during that time.
Pavin Smith, OF, Arizona Diamondbacks: Smith has struck at least twice in four of the last six games in which he has played. He is 3 for 25 with 10 strikeouts in six games this month.
American League Pitchers
Jaime Barria, Los Angeles Angels: Barria has surrendered seven hits, seven runs and three home runs in five innings during his last two relief appearances.
Dylan Bundy, Minnesota Twins: Bundy gave up eight hits, six runs and two home runs in 2.1 innings the last time out.
Daniel Lynch, Kansas City Royals: Lynch allowed three homers among six hits in 5.2 innings during his most recent starting assignment.
Trevor Richards, Toronto Blue Jays: Richard surrendered six hits and five runs in 4.2 innings over his last four outings.
Elvin Rodriguez, Detroit Tigers: Rodriguez allowed 11 hits, 10 runs and four home runs over 4.1 innings in his last start.
National League Pitchers
Chris Bassitt, New York Mets: Bassitt is 0-2 with an ERA of 8.68 in his last two starts. He has given up 12 hits and 11 runs in 9.1 innings.
Corbin Burnes, Milwaukee Brewers: The reigning National League Cy Young Award winner didn’t make it through four innings the last time out. He allowed eight hits and five runs.
Jhoulys Chacin, Colorado Rockies: Chacin allowed five hits and five runs in 2.2 innings in his last two outings.
Brusdar Graterol, Los Angeles Dodgers: In Graterol’s last three outings, he has given up five hits and six runs.
Craig Stammen, San Diego Padres: Stammen was roughed up for five hits and four runs in 2.1 innings in his last two appearances.
