We've got a packed Saturday of baseball betting with 17 games on the MLB odds board, giving us plenty of MLB player props to dig into and there's a lot to like.
Today, I'm backing Japanese hurler Shota Imanaga in just his third MLB start while also putting my money on Manny Machado and Brendan Donovan. Here are my three favorite MLB picks in the player props markets for April 13.
MLB props for April 13
- Shota Imanaga Under 2.5 earned runs (-150 at bet365)
- Brendan Donovan Over 1.5 total bases (-105 at DraftKings)
- Manny Machado Over 1.5 total bases (+150 at bet365)
Picks made on 4/13 at 11 a.m. ET.
Read full analysis of each pick.
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Prop bet #1: Straight Shota
Chicago Cubs left-hander Shota Imanaga came into the majors this year with high expectations after a sterling career in Japan. He has lived up to that billing so far with a pair of impressive starts.
He held the Rockies to just two hits and fanned nine batters through six innings in his MLB debut. His second start came against a stacked Dodgers lineup and he excelled once again, allowing just a pair of hits and no runs across four innings before a rain delay ended his day early.
Tonight, Imanaga faces a floundering Seattle Mariners lineup in the pitcher-friendly confines of T-Mobile Park. The Mariners are 29th in the majors in OPS (.599) and 27th in runs per game (3.29) with those numbers dipping to .551 and 2.63 at home.
Imanaga doesn't have overpowering velocity but he has excellent command and above-average control. Although he gives up plenty of fly balls, facing an M's lineup without much power in a park that suppresses extra-base hits is definitely in his favor. Take the Under 2.5 on his earned runs today.
Shota Imanaga prop: Under 2.5 earned runs (-150 at bet365)
Prop bet #2: Brendan comes up big
Brendan Donovan has been the St. Louis Cardinals' most productive hitter, slashing .298/.414/.553 with a team-high seven extra-base hits. He's coming off a terrific performance against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Friday night, going 3-4 with a triple.
The 27-year-old outfielder put together a solid sophomore campaign last year and one of his best performances came in Arizona when he went 3-5 at the plate on July 24. Two of those hits came against Ryne Nelson, who happens to be starting for the D-Backs today.
Nelson struggled as a rookie last year, pitching to a 5.31 ERA across 27 starts while ranking in the bottom 10th percentile in opponent expected slugging percentage (.488). He's been lit up this year as well, giving up five runs through 2 2/3 innings in his season debut before allowing three runs and a pair of dingers in five innings against the Braves last Sunday.
With the left-handed Donovan boasting the platoon advantage, back him to have another big game at Chase Field.
Brendan Donovan prop: Over 1.5 total bases (-105 at DraftKings)
Prop bet #3:
San Diego Padres third baseman Manny Machado began the year in a bit of a slump, but he's gotten back on track going 5-for-13 at the plate over his last three games while drilling a homer on Friday. The six-time All-Star is coming off a bit of a down year but still finished with 30 dingers in 138 games.
To be fair, most of his batting struggles were at home at pitcher-friendly Petco Park and he had a .489 slugging percentage on the road. One of his best performances of last season came at Dodgers Stadium in September when he jacked a pair of homers against Gavin Stone.
Stone is the weakest link of this Los Angeles Dodgers rotation and he'll be toeing the rubber tonight in L.A. Stone pitched to a 9.00 ERA and allowed opposing batters to slug .603 in 31 innings last year. The former top prospect hasn't shown much improvement so far this year surrendering 13 hits and eight runs through eight innings. It's a small sample size, but this isn't a favorable matchup for him to figure things out.
Stone's favorite pitch is his changeup, which he has thrown 34.7% of the time in his career. Machado had a .347 batting average and a .490 slugging percentage against changeups last year while slugging an incredible .731 against that offering in 2022.
Manny Machado prop: Over 1.5 total bases (+150 at bet365)
Not intended for use in MA.
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