This article is part of our MLB Picks series.
MLB Best Bets Tonight: Free MLB Picks and Player Props for Monday, May 8
Detroit Tigers at Cleveland Guardians
Tanner Bibee Strikeout Prop (Over 5.5, -115 DraftKings)
Bibee had excellent strikeout numbers at Double-A Akron last season (81 in 73.2 innings) and so far that's translated over to this season in the Majors (13 strikeouts in 11 innings). He's got a great home matchup for this prop tonight as the Tigers strike out 27 percent of the time on the road against right-handed pitching. This prop is at an interesting number considering in one of Bibee's starts he had five strikeouts while recording eight in the other. I'll take the over here based on the Tigers whiffing tendencies.
Best Player Props For Detroit Tigers at Cleveland Guardians
Tanner Bibee Over 5.5 Strikeouts (-115 DraftKings)
Tampa Bay Rays at Baltimore Orioles
Brandon Lowe 1+RBI (+140 DraftKings)
Lowe will face off against Kyle Gibson on the road tonight and should be hitting in his usual cleanup spot. Lowe has gone 4-for-13 against Gibson in for his career including a double and a triple. On the season Lowe is up to 20 RBI on the season in 29 games and is only two seasons removed from a 99-RBI campaign. It's a decent matchup against Gibson who is on the wrong side of 35 years old and is allowing a .455 wOBA this season to left-handed hitters in a small sample.
Best Player Props For Tampa Bay Rays at Baltimore Orioles
Brandon Lowe 1+ RBI (+140 DraftKings)
Miami Marlins at Arizona Diamondbacks
Diamondbacks -1.5 Runs (-106 FanDuel)
Zac Gallen has been fantastic this season and before his last outing he had four straight starts (27 innings) without allowing a run. In three home starts this season (20.1 innings) he hasn't allowed a run and has 11, 11 and 12 strikeouts in those three contests. He'll face off again the Marlins and Braxton Garrett (5.81 ERA, 1.67 WHIP) tonight which heavily favors Gallen. The Marlins have a road .290 wOBA against right-handed pitching (seventh-worst in the league) while striking out 24.4 percent of the time.
Best Bets For Miami Marlins at Arizona Diamondbacks
Diamondbacks -1.5 Runs (-106 FanDuel)
Houston Astros at Los Angels Angels
Patrick Sandoval Over 2.5 Earned Runs (-110 DraftKings)
Sandoval has gotten off to a nice start this season with a 2.93 ERA and 1.27 WHIP but he's struggled in the past with the Astros. Yordan Alvarez, Kyle Tucker, Martin Maldonado and Alex Bregman have combined to hit six home runs in only 40 at-bats against Sandoval. As a team the Astros have a .325 wOBA against lefties and that's after having a .340 mark last season (fifth-best in the league).
Best Player Props For Houston Astros at Los Angels Angels
Patrick Sandoval Over 2.5 Earned Runs (-110 DraftKings)
Washington Nationals at San Francisco Giants
Joc Pederson Anytime Home Run (+500 DraftKings)
This is something of a gut call here but let me back it up with some facts. Pederson should be hitting cleanup for the Giants and has a good home matchup against Jake Irvin. Irvin isn't considered a big prospect and his numbers in a short stint at Triple-A (5.64 ERS, 1.54 WHIP) back that up. He won't likely pitch deep into this game meaning Pederson should see some at-bats against second-tier pitching. Last season at home, Pederson had eight home runs in only 179 plate appears or roughly on in every 22 plate appearances against right-handed pitching. If you want to go a more conservative route, his total bases (over 1.5) is +120 on DraftKings.
Best Player Props For Washington Nationals at San Francisco Giants
Joc Pederson Anytime Home Run (+500 DraftKings)
