3 MLB Player Prop Bets to Target on Monday 10/23/23

Player props can be useful in a variety of ways -- from taking advantage of them straight up to measuring a player's potential to produce in daily fantasy baseball on FanDuel. Here, we're going to focus on the former.

Utilizing numberFire's projections as a guide, here are some MLB player props bets that look appealing via the MLB odds at FanDuel Sportsbook.

Please note that betting lines and numberFire's projections may change throughout the day after this article is published. Also, the weather may be an issue in some locations.

MLB Prop Bets to Target

Yordan Alvarez To Record An RBI (+120)

A sudden-death game is on tap tonight for the Houston Astros and Texas Rangers, the winner of which will book a ticket to the Fall Classic.

Max Scherzer is taking the mound for the Rangers and will look to rebound from his rough Game 3 start, where he threw for four innings and gave up five earned runs.

This game was his first outing in over a month, but he still managed to throw strikes 66.6% of the time, so I do think we will see a more in-command Scherzer tonight. However, we can’t ignore that there is some blow-up potential here -- especially given the 9.5-run total and the ability of the Houston bats to go off.

It’s hard not to side with Yordan Alvarez these days if you can find his batting props at plus odds alongside an advantageous matchup.

Alvarez crushes against right-handed pitchers, posting a .419 OBP, .625 SLG, 184 wRC+, 50.2% fly-ball rate, 48.3% hard-hit rate, and 23.8% HR/FB ratio this season.

He’s gone 17 for 39 in these playoffs, including 8 extra-base hits, so we know he is a candidate to do just about anything. But tonight, I'd look for him to record an RBI, something that he has done 14 times so far in the postseason.

Beyond the fact that Alvarez has knocked in at least one run in seven out of ten playoff games, I like his chances due to who precedes him in the batting order.

Jose Altuve bats leadoff and has been red-hot as of late, and his splits against righties include a .322 batting average, .401 OBP, and 161 wRC+. The same goes for Alex Bregman in the second spot; he's put up a .282 batting average, .382 OBP, and 138 wRC+ in this split.

This puts Alvarez in a great spot to walk up to the plate with runners in scoring position; I wouldn't be surprised if we saw him overtake Adolis Garcia as the playoff RBI leader tonight.

As a side note, Alvarez does have the potential to get intentionally walked tonight, which could be why we are getting decent value back on the prop. However, he has only been sent to first base once this postseason, and it came after he recorded an RBI single in his first at-bat.

I think the potential for an intentional walk would skyrocket after this prop is cleared, but Alvarez To Record A Run (-120) offers decent value as a backup option.

Brandon Marsh To Record 2+ Bases (+200)

The Philadelphia Phillies will look to clinch a trip to the World Series with a Game 6 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks tonight.

Merrill Kelly will take the mound for Arizona, and he is coming off a start where he gave up three home runs to batters who dominate in their splits against right-handed pitchers.

The Philly bats seem to be in a constant rotation of making big hits; I'm targeting Brandon Marsh to get the job done in Game 6.

Marsh has been solid against righties this season, posting a .292 batting average (second-highest among Phillies' players; 16th in MLB), .477 SLG, and 133 wRC+.

He's been great in the playoffs, going 10-31, including 5 extra-base hits. Given that Marsh has hit three doubles in five games of the NLCS, his +200 odds to record two bases are as good of value as we will find for batting props in this game.

Plus, Marsh boasts the advantage of sitting directly after Nick Castellanos in the batting order.

Castellanos has unreal splits against left-handed pitchers, so the D'Backs will likely make sure that he doesn't face a lefty tonight, meaning there is a pretty good chance Marsh could go up against strictly right-handed arms all night.

Aaron Nola Over 5.5 Strikeouts (-136)

Aaron Nola is on the bump for Philadelphia, and he should be a candidate to clear the over on strikeout props tonight.

Nola has been nails in the playoffs thus far, throwing for 18.2 innings and fanning 19 batters -- all while only giving up two runs. He's exactly who the Phillies want on the mound tonight, leaving little risk for an abridged outing.

Nola has punched out six-plus batters in 23 of his 35 starts this season. The fact that he's cleared this 65.7% of the time this season is a nice place to start, but I'd be more concerned with his numbers since the start of July. Nola has fanned six-plus batters in 14 of his 18 starts during this time frame (77.7% of the time).

The Diamondbacks have been a strikeout-prone team this postseason, maintaining a 25.9% strikeout rate (highest out of remaining postseason teams). For reference, this would have been the second-highest strikeout rate in the league during the regular season.

Nola has started two games against Arizona this year, including Game 2 of this series. His total stat line includes 12.2 innings pitched, 4 earned runs, and 16 strikeouts, and I would anticipate seeing more of the same in Game 6.

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The above author is a FanDuel employee and is not eligible to compete in public daily fantasy contests or place sports betting wagers on FanDuel. The advice provided by the author does not necessarily represent the views of FanDuel. Taking the author’s advice will not guarantee a successful outcome. You should use your own judgment when participating in daily fantasy contests or placing sports wagers.