It’s an absolutely jam-packed day of action on the diamond with all 30 MLB teams taking the diamond, which means there is no shortage of options in the player prop market.
Today, we highlight a strikeout lover’s dream matchup when the Braves visit the Phillies. The Blue Jays lineup is hot once again, but which slugger do we back against the Cardinals? And Mike Clevinger has a chance to have a big night against the Tigers.
Check out our best MLB player prop bets for Tuesday, July 26.
MLB props for July 26
Picks made on 7/26/2022 at 12:30 p.m. ET.
Click on each pick to jump to the full analysis.
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Today’s best MLB prop bets
The odds widgets below represent the best odds currently available for each betting market at regulated sportsbooks.
Super Nola
If you like strikeouts, tonight’s National League East showdown between the Atlanta Braves and the Philadelphia Phillies is for you. That’s because Braves’ rookie fireballer Spencer Strider will toe the rubber against veteran Aaron Nola.
Strider has burst onto the Major League scene by lighting up the radar gun and blowing away hitters to the tune of a massive 13.8 strikeouts per nine innings. But it’s Strider’s counterpart we’re looking at today.
Despite a couple of tough outings, Nola has been on quite the roll since over his last 10 starts. The right-hander is pitching to a 2.54 ERA, and limiting opponents to a .210 batting average while throwing at least seven innings nine times over that span. Over his last six games, he is averaging over a strikeout per inning.
Nola has been a real problem for the Braves. The right-hander has racked up 18 strikeouts over 15 1-3 innings over two starts against Atlanta this season, recording at least eight strikeouts in both games.
Numbers like that shouldn’t really be a surprise considering the way the Braves are swinging out of their shoes this season. To be fair, the strategy is working, as they rank second in home runs per game, but it also creates an opportunity for strikeout prop bettors.
Atlanta strikes out 9.34 times per game, which is the second most in MLB while also having the third highest strikeout rate when facing right-handers. At close to even money it’s worth backing Nola to rack up the punchouts tonight.
Aaron Nola Prop: Over 7.5 strikeouts (-105)
Hot hot Hernandez
Don’t look now, but the Toronto Blue Jays' bats are doing their thing once again and should pose a big problem for the St. Louis Cardinals in the opener of their mini two-game set.
The Jays came out of the All-Star break mashing. They completed a sweep of the Boston Red Sox where they plated a ridiculous 40 runs over three games, hitting nearly .400 as a team with a 1.063 OPS.
Everyone is cooking right now. Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Teoscar Hernandez, Alejandro Kirk, heck, even Ramiel Tapia is crushing it right now. But today, our focus is on Hernandez.
An oblique injury early in the season really stunted Hernandez’s performance, but the Toronto outfielder is starting to look like the guy who won back-to-back Silver Slugger awards each of the last two seasons.
Hernandez was hitting .333 with a 1.035 OPS over his last nine games heading into the All-Star break and carried that momentum into the series against the Red Sox. He went 6-for-12 with three extra-base hits in that series, going Over 1.5 total bases in all three games.
Hernandez and a red-hot Jays’ lineup is not exactly something a rookie starter would be clamoring to pitch against, but that’s the case for Andre Pallante tonight.
Pallante is one of the Cardinals' top pitching prospects and mixes a mid-90s fastball with a slider and curve. He used those to pitch to a 1.07 ERA over 17 relief appearances, but things have not gone so smoothly since he took over a spot in the rotation at the start of June.
The right-hander has a 4.46 ERA and is giving up a .295 batting average to opponents over his eight starts. The last three have been particularly rough, where he’s surrendered 13 runs on 25 hits over 14 1-3 innings.
Bet on the Jays' bats to keep rolling and for Hernandez to be a part of that.
Teoscar Hernandez Prop: Over 1.5 total bases (+110)
Mike ClevWINger
Another player starting to bounce back from an injury is San Diego Padres starter, Mike Clevinger. The right-hander lost the entirety of the 2021 season due to Tommy John surgery but is starting to resemble the guy who owned a 2.96 ERA between 2017 and 2020.
Clevinger is making just his 10th start of the season, but it appears he’s built up his innings enough and the harness has been taken off. The right-hander has pitched into the sixth in four straight starts, pitching to a respectable 3.47 ERA and limiting opponents to a .200 batting average over that span.
Now, he gets a cupcake matchup against the Detroit Tigers.
The Tigers have been the worst offense in baseball this season. Detroit’s 312 runs scored is 24 fewer than the next closest team and it is right-handers who give it the most trouble.
It ranks 29th in batting average (.213), and dead last in OPS (.586) and wRC+ (67), all while having the fifth worst k-rate when facing right-handed pitchers.
The Tigers counter Clevinger with rookie Garrett Hill. The right-hander is making just his fourth career start and has given up 10 runs on 13 hits over his first three. That matchup should be enough to help Clevinger notch his third win of the season.
Mike Clevinger Prop: To record a win (+105)
Did you know that if you played today’s MLB props as a parlay, you could win $74.05 on a $10 bet?
Use our MLB parlay calculator to create your own parlays and see their potential payouts.
