Best MLB Prop Bets Today | MLB Player Props May 8

Anthony Santander Over 0.5 Hits (-155 at DraftKings)

With Santander and the Orioles facing Tampa’s Shane McClanahan, this seems like a tough matchup. But Santander has an unusually good track record against McClanahan. He’s 5 for 17 (.294) with two extra-base hits in his career against the lefty, so just recording a hit doesn’t seem that far fetched, even against McClanahan

More importantly, Santander is one of Baltimore’s hottest hitters right now. During the month of May, he’s hitting .444 with an OPS of 1.335. In fact, Santander has exactly two hits in six straight games and seven of his last eight games. Even against a good pitcher like McClanahan, the odds are good for Santander to stay hot on Monday and get at least one hit.

Paul Goldschmidt Over 1.5 Total Bases (+145 at DraftKings)

Goldschmidt hit three home runs on Sunday, so why not strike while the iron is hot? Since the calendar flipped to May, he’s batting. 385 with an OPS of .885 and has hit at least two total bases in four of his six games. Even if you take away his three homers on Sunday, Goldschmidt has four doubles in his last six games. Including Sunday, he’s had multi-hit games in three of his last four games, so he’s clearly in a groove and poised to keep it going on Monday.

But even if Goldschmidt wasn’t red-hot at the moment, he’d still be thrilled to be facing Marcus Stroman on Monday. Goldschmidt is 8 for 18 (.444) with two doubles and three homers in his career against Chicago’s starter. Even if he’s held to just one hit on Monday, there’s a good chance it’ll go for extra bases, which is why Goldschmidt collecting at least two total bases has a lot of value at +145.

Kris Bryant Over 1.5 Total Bases (+140 at DraftKings)

Bryant is surely licking his chops at the idea of facing Mitch Keller on Monday. Colorado’s slugger is 5 for 8 with two doubles and two walks in his career against Keller. That amounts to a .625 average and a 1.575 OPS. Bryant is +800 to hit a home run, which isn’t a bad bet, but we’ll just play it safe by backing him to just get 1.5 total bases.

Not only does Bryant have great career numbers against Keller but he’s also having a strong bounce-back season after struggling during his first year with the Rockies. He’s currently hitting .300 with an OPS of .854 and has already matched his home run total from last season. Bryant has three extra-base hits in his last five games, and given his incredible success against Keller in the past, he should have no problem staying hot and adding another one on Monday.

Kyle Gibson Over 5.5 Hits (-165 at DraftKings)

Don’t let the 4-1 record fool you because Kyle Gibson hasn’t been that good this season. He owns a 4.61 ERA and is coming off a start against the lowly Royals in which he allowed six runs on 10 hits over 6.2 innings. In fact, he’s allowed 18 hits over his last two starts and conceded at least six hits in five of his seven starts. Against the best team in baseball on Monday, don’t expect Gibson to do much better, making him vulnerable to giving up at least six hits again.

Baltimore’s starter doesn’t exactly have a good track record against many of Tampa’s hitters. 

For instance, Isaac Parades is 3 for 3 with a double against him while the trio of Randy Arozarena, Yandy Diaz, and Brandon Lowe is a combined 9 for 21 (.429). The Rays are also averaging five runs per game in May and have no injury concerns at the moment, so they will be at full strength and full of confidence on Monday, so hammering out six hits against Gibson shouldn’t be an issue.

JP Sears Over 2.5 Earned Runs (-150 at DraftKings)

Sears has had a rough start to the season, going 0-2 with a 5.06 ERA over his first six starts. Things aren’t likely to get much better for him at Yankee Stadium on Monday. Even though Sears is coming off his best of the year, tossing six scoreless innings against the Mariners last Wednesday, that performance is an outlier.

In four of his five other starts this season, Sears has allowed at least three earned runs, allowing an average of 4.3 earned runs in his three starts on the road. Granted, he catches a little bit of a break by facing the Yankees while Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, and Josh Donaldson are on the IL. But DJ LeMahieu and Harrison Bader are scorching hot at the moment while Anthony Rizzo remains a threat. Plus, the Yankees scored seven runs on Sunday, so they might be coming out of their slump and should be ready to tee off against Sears.