MLB props predictions: Marquee players among trio of best bets for Monday

All but two of MLB’s 30 teams will be on the diamond Monday, which means there are plenty of moneymaking opportunities in the player props market.

We’ve found three such opportunities, and they happen to all involve household names that have combined for 17 All-Star appearances, one batting title, one MVP and three Cy Young Awards.

» READ MORE: Phillies vs. Marlins prediction: Back Philly as a home underdog vs. Alcantara Monday night

Among this marquee trio, we’re betting on two hitters to come through at the plate and betting against a future Hall of Fame pitcher — at least when it comes to his strikeout total.

Here are our top three MLB player prop predictions for Monday.

Odds updated as of 1:30 p.m. ET on April 10.

Turner began his Phillies career with a seven-game hitting streak, going 10-for-32 with five multi-hit games along the way.

However, the two-time All-Star shortstop had a rough weekend at the dish against the Reds, going hitless in seven at-bats Saturday and Sunday with just one walk and four strikeouts.

The starting pitchers Turner faced in those two games: Nick Lodolo and Connor Overton. The starting pitcher Turner will face Monday: Miami Marlins ace and 2022 National League Cy Young winner Sandy Alcantara.

Talk about a step up in class.

So why bet on Turner to snap out of his mini-slump against one of the filthiest right-handers in the game — one who yielded just three hits in a complete-game shutout in his last outing? Two words: matchup numbers.

Turner is 10-for-27 (.370 batting average) in his career against Alcantara, with four extra-base hits. He’s also hit safely in eight of nine games against Alcantara, racking up at least two total bases in five of those contests.

If the Phillies are to prevail as a home underdog Monday, Turner almost certainly will have to do some damage at the top of the lineup. So consider this prop recommendation a bit of a correlation to our Miami vs. Philly prediction.

Bet on Turner to come up with at least two singles and/or one extra-base hit.

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Goldschmidt belted 35 home runs — one off his career high — on his way to winning the 2022 National League MVP. However, the St. Louis Cardinals first baseman has gone deep just once in his first 41 at bats of this season — and that was a week ago Monday.

That puts Goldschmidt in a five-game homerless drought, which is nothing compared with last season when he hit just two bombs in his first 31 games (and none in his first 18).

Well, where better to snap out of a home run funk than Coors Field, where Goldschmidt has 17 homers and a 1.025 OPS in 72 career games?

And what better pitcher to face when looking to snap out of a home run funk than Rockies right-hander Germán Márquez? He’s served up 140 dingers in 174 career games (171 starts) — including four dingers to Goldschmidt.

OK, so those four homers are confined to just three games — Goldschmidt blasted two in May 2017 and one each in June and July 2018. Márquez has kept Goldschmidt in the ballpark in 14 other head-to-head meetings. Still, all four blasts were hit at Coors Field, where Márquez has surrendered slightly more than half (71) of his 140 homers — including 19 in just 87 1/3 innings last season.

Overall for his career, Goldschmidt is batting .425 against Márquez (17-for-40) with an eye-popping 1.325 OPS.

Obviously, projecting home runs isn’t easy, which is why there’s some juicy plus-money attached to this prop. But given the matchup history and game location, this is a roll of the dice worth taking — particularly at Caesars Sportsbook.

Goldschmidt’s +420 price at Caesars easily beats both BetMGM (+375) and FanDuel (+290).

Here’s another example of why it pays to price shop — not just when betting props but when betting anything, in any sport.

BetMGM is offering plus-money on Scherzer to finish with fewer than 6.5 strikeouts in Monday’s home game against San Diego. However, FanDuel has this prop priced at Over -112/Under -112, while Caesars is even worse at Over -111/Under -131.

As for why we’re fading Scherzer, we simply don’t like what we’ve seen from the 38-year-old so far.

In two starts against the Marlins (home) and Brewers (road), Scherzer has allowed eight runs (all earned) in 11 1/3 innings. He had six strikeouts against Miami and only two against Milwaukee.

Keep in mind that the Marlins have struck out 90 times this season. Only San Francisco (102) has whiffed more. The Brewers are in the middle of the pack (15th) with 81 strikeouts, which is three more than the Padres.

San Diego third baseman Manny Machado certainly hasn’t enjoyed facing Scherzer in his career — he’s just 8-for-50 with 20 strikeouts. And the Padres are in a tough scheduling spot, having played Sunday night in Atlanta before traveling north to New York.

But Scherzer has now gone four straight starts without notching at least seven strikeouts. That includes a pair of four-strikeout efforts in his two postseason starts last October.

One was in Atlanta. The other? At home against the Padres, when he got tagged for seven runs in 4 2/3 innings.

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