MLB picks today: Best player prop bets for Saturday, June 24

It's a full, matinee-heavy slate around MLB on Saturday, with 15 games on the docket – including one all the way across the pond in London. That means plenty of options to choose from for those looking to place some baseball prop bets, and to help you narrow things down, here are three of our favorite plays today.

MLB player prop bets: Saturday, June 24

This is far less juice than you'd usually see for a 2+ total bases prop, but even at these odds I'm taking the plunge on Happ today. The Chicago Cubs will be facing off against St. Louis Cardinals veteran Adam Wainwright today, and Happ has a long history of crushing his divisional rival – hitting a cool .344/.382/.813 with four homers and three doubles across 34 career plate appearances.

As if that weren't reason enough to buy in, Saturday's game will kick off the 2023 London Series, taking place at historic London Stadium – you know, the same place the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox combined for 50 runs and 10 homers back in 2019. Facing one of his favorite matchups in an extremely offense-friendly park, Happ should have no problem tallying at least one extra-base hit today.

You'd be forgiven for not following Olson (or really anything related to the Detroit Tigers pitching staff right now), but the rookie has looked far more promising than his 5.59 ERA would suggest across his first four starts. His 1.09 WHIP, 23.8% K rate and 3.96 expected ERA all point to a very solid pitcher, and Olson's slider in particular looks like a legit out pitch (.161 batting average, 32.3% whiff rate). The matchup on Saturday couldn't be better, as he'll face a Minnesota Twins lineup that's striking out a league-high 29.6% of the time against right-handed pitchers in the month of June. Olson's cleared this mark in two of his four outings so far – only falling short in tough spots against the Philadelphia Phillies and Atlanta Braves – and all signs point to him making it three of five tonight.

A trendy sleeper pick entering the season, Ashcraft has been abysmal for the Cincinnati Reds so far, posting an eye-popping 12.72 ERA over his last seven starts before landing on the IL with a calf injury. He'll make his return on Saturday, but without going on a rehab assignment it's unlikely that the righty will be fully stretched out – meaning a tighter pitch count and fewer opportunities to pile up strikeouts. Not that he was striking very many guys out even before he got hurt: Ashcraft has fallen short of this number in seven of his last nine outings, with K and whiff rates that rank in the bottom 20% of the league. His opponent today, the scorching-hot Atlanta Braves, are striking out just 18.1% of the time against righties this month – the third-lowest rate in baseball – and all signs point to a rather short outing for Ashcraft.

  
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