Los Angeles Dodgers slugger Shohei Ohtani is off to quite the start at the plate in 2024.
Ohtani homered twice in the Dodgers’ 5–1 win over the Atlanta Braves on Sunday to help complete a sweep of the team which entered the weekend with the best record in baseball. He went 4-for-4 on Sunday and smacked his second homer of the day 464 feet to center field.
Ohtani now is tied for the league lead in homers with 10. In 35 games, he has collected 25 extra-base hits (14 doubles, one triple, 10 homers), the most for a player’s first 35 contests with the Dodgers in MLB history (h/t Sarah Langs).
But there’s more.
Ohtani’s 25 extra-base hits through 35 games also marks his best start to a season. He also has never posted more hits (52), runs (30), total bases (98) or notched a better batting average (.364), on-base percentage (.426) or slugging percentage (.685) through 35 contests in his career.
Ohtani already has 2 unanimous MVPs and is off to his BEST start thru 35 games as a hitter:
XBH: 25, most Hits: 52, most BA: .364, best Runs: 30, most Total bases: 98, most OBP: .426, best SLG: .685, best OPS: 1.111, best https://t.co/TYhs9I00JS
The Dodgers gave Ohtani a 10-year, $700 million contract in free agency last offseason in hopes he’d continue to be the two-way superstar
Ohtani won’t pitch until next year, but he already might be worth the Dodgers’ investment solely from his offensive production so far.
Ohtani and the Dodgers return to the field Monday to begin a three-game series against the Miami Marlins, who own the second-fewest wins in the National League with a 10–26 record.
Friday features a jam-packed slate of Major League Baseball action, and there are plenty of ways to bet in the prop market with so many teams playing.
I’ve narrowed down my picks for Friday’s slate to just three, with two starting pitchers and one red-hot hitter getting the nod.
The game of the night on Friday is likely between the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers, and Yankees slugger Aaron Judge may need to have a big game after Juan Soto exited Thursday night’s contest with left forearm discomfort.
Judge is one of the three players I’m targeting tonight, so let’s dive into the picks for June 7:
Atlanta Braves lefty Chris Sale is coming off a rough outing to open June, allowing eight earned runs in four innings against the A’s, but I think he’s due for a bounce-back showing against the Washington Nationals on Friday.
Sale was terrific in May, allowing just two earned runs across five starts (32.0 innings of work), so I’m not reading too much into his clunker to start June.
The Braves are 8-3 in Sale’s 11 starts this season, and he’s earned the decision in every win, posting an 8-1 record. Prior to his last outing, Sale had earned the win in seven consecutive starts.
Rather than laying the price on the Braves moneyline, I like taking Sale to earn the win against a Washington team that struggles against left-handed pitching, ranking 27th in MLB in OPS.
Aaron Judge OVER 0.5 Walks (-125)
Judge and Soto have been the best duo in baseball this season, but if Soto misses this game – or extended time – Judge may see less pitches to hit going forward.
As it is, Judge has drawn at least one walk in five straight games, and he’s racked 52 total walks in 64 games so far in 2024.
Dodgers starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto doesn’t walk a ton of hitters (just 14 in 12 starts), but I can’t imagine he’ll look to attack Judge every at bat with Soto likely out of the lineup on Friday.
Judge has been great at drawing walks and getting on base for years, so I’ll gladly take him at this price on Friday.
Griffin Canning UNDER 4.5 Strikeouts (-125)
Los Angeles Angels starter Griffin Canning has a tough matchup on Friday, as he’s taking on the Houston Astros, who strikeout a league-low 6.83 times per game this season.
Canning has cleared 4.5 strikeouts in just four of his 12 outings in 2024, and he struck out just two Houston batters across five innings in his first outing against the Stros this season.
Overall, Canning ranks in just the 13th percentile in strikeout percentage this season, so I don’t see him racking up a huge number on this prop against the least strikeout prone offense in the league.
Odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.
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With 15 Major League Baseball games on the docket Saturday, I'm going across the bigs to find three best bets on the card, including how to bet the Orioles vs. Rays game on Saturday, which features one of the hottest pitchers in baseball in Kyle Bradish.
Can Bradish keep it up, or will he come back down to Earth?
Here's my bet for that game, as well as the Nationals vs. Braves matchup and the Reds vs. Cubs matchup in a division-filled best bets slate on Saturday.
MacKenzie Gore has been outstanding this season, striking out a career best 27.3% of batters with a career low 3.57 ERA.
The former Padres prized prospect is starting to see perform like it and now draws a Braves team that is struggling without Ronald Acuna Jr, who tore his ACL and is out for the year. Atlanta is hitting only .211 in June.
Atlanta's lineup is struggling and Charlie Morton may not be able to give enough help on the mound. He has a 3.88 ERA with a 3.94 xERA, but has a walk rate of nearly 11%. There are simply too many free bases given out in what may be a low scoring affiar.
Atlanta keeps getting priced like the team will stop its slide, but I'm going to take advantage and go against it.
Rays vs. Orioles Prediction and Pick
Both starters have missed time this season, with different results, but I’m betting on it going in a different direction on Saturday.
Kyle Bradish of the Orioles has made six starts and has been pitching the best baseball of his career. He is striking out 32% of batters, way above his career average, while allowing a hard-hit percentage of only 25%, 99th percentile in the big leagues.
While it’s a fantastic start for a league average pitcher, regression will come for him soon.
I’ll try here, on the road against a Rays team that has pop in the lineup and a pitcher who has a high ceiling in Taj Bradley. The hard throwing right hander hasn’t had good results this season, his xERA is hovering around 7.00, but i believe he can outperform expectations given the Orioles have the third fewest walks on the year.
Cubs vs. Reds Prediction and Pick
The Cubs’ skid has continued while the Reds have won six straight, so I’ll side with the hot home team.
It helps that Chicago is bottom 10 in OPS against left handers this season as the team faces Reds’ starter Andrew Abbott.
Cincinnati is playing its best ball now, second in the big leagues in OPS over the last 13 games and play in the hitter friendly Great American Ball Park. I don't see the difference between the two teams at the moment being neglible, like this line indicates, and I expect Cincy to win with ease at home for a seventh straight game.
Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.
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The Atlanta Braves are in the midst of a slump that is unprecedented for the team's current core.
Atlanta lost its fifth straight game Wednesday, falling 4–2 to the Baltimore Orioles at Camden Yards. It's the first time the Braves have lost five straight games since September 2017, the final season before Atlanta began its current streak of winning six consecutive NL East division titles from '18 to '23.
The Braves have lost 5 straight games for the first time since September 2017 pic.twitter.com/HqQjgpd3ae
The Braves have been outscored 25–11 during their current skid, which began with a 2–1 loss to the Washington Nationals on June 7. In September 2017—the final month of Ozzie Albies's rookie season—the Braves lost six straight games to the New York Mets and Miami Marlins.
Atlanta going six-plus full seasons and 934 regular-season games between five-game losing streaks is quite the accomplishment.
For reference, there have been 37 streaks of five straight losses or worse in the big leagues this season. Twenty of MLB's 30 teams have lost five or more consecutive games already this year, and the lowly Chicago White Sox have plummeted to four different skids of at least five games in 2024.
After the loss to Baltimore, Atlanta dropped to 35–30 on the season and 10 games behind the first-place Philadelphia Phillies in the NL East.
The Braves will try to snap their skid Thursday in the series finale against Baltimore.
