Amid the beginning of the NCAA Tournament, Major League Baseball gets underway with two games on Tuesday and Wednesday between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Chicago Cubs as part of the Tokyo Series.
While the official Opening Day for most of the other teams is not until next Thursday (March 27), these two games serve as the perfect way to open the season, especially with the defending World Series champion Dodgers taking the field.
Read on for our top MLB player prop bets for Tuesday, March 18.
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Tuesday's Best MLB Player Prop Bets
(MLB player prop bet odds courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook)
Shota Imanaga Under 2.5 Earned Runs Allowed (-150)
Southpaw Shota Imanaga was one of the few bright spots in the Cubs rotation last year, going 15-3 with a 2.91 ERA and 1.02 WHIP.
Imanaga faces a powerful Dodgers lineup that has scored 800+ runs in six straight seasons. However, L.A.’s lineup may not be as dominant on Tuesday with Mookie Betts potentially out with an illness and Shohei Ohtani playing in his first official regular season game after labrum surgery.
Imanaga could also be yanked from this game early before he even gets into trouble, as managers tend to be cautious with starting pitchers early in the season. DraftKings Sportsbook has Imanaga’s total for outs recorded set at 14.5, suggesting it is a 50/50 proposition he even lasts long enough to be eligible to earn the win.
Imanaga began last season with two or fewer earned runs allowed in nine consecutive starts and 12 of the first 13, so this wager is worth the -150 juice, as long as he isn’t too distracted by pitching in his birth country.
Tommy Edman Over 1.5 Total Bases (+130)
Tommy Edman is one of eight batters in the game whose total bases prop line is set at 1.5 instead of 0.5. That is the respect he is getting from oddsmakers after hitting home runs in two of his three career at-bats against Shota Imanaga.
Edman should only get two at-bats, at the most, against the southpaw. Imanaga allowed just four hits in his first 10 career innings last year. However, both of those starts were in a frigid Chicago climate in April, where these games are played in the climate-controlled Tokyo Dome.
Based on Edman’s success against Imanaga and the fact he batted .412 against left-handed pitchers and .181 against righties last year, these +130 odds are worth a flier.
Mike Spector is a featured writer at BettingPros. For more from Mike, check out his archive and follow him @MikeSpector01.
