MLB Player Props For Tuesday | May 21

Every team is in action on Tuesday, so bettors can fire a ton of darts at the books tonight.

There is a seemingly endless number of player props available, and sifting through all of those options can be quite an overwhelming endeavor.

In an attempt to whittle down some of these props, I have pinpointed a few prop options that have intriguing matchups that could be of interest to baseball bettors.

A few of these prop selections are about pitchers that have been trending in the right direction, some props are regarding a few batters that always seem to find their way into the nightly highlight reel.

While the MLB props change nightly, and the odds for the props change minute by minute, always keep up with the latest trends and shop around for the best odds for each wager.

Now, let’s check out some MLB player props, and as always, with the best odds.

Clarke Schmidt – SP, New York Yankees

The New York Yankees host the Seattle Mariners on Tuesday night, and that should bode well for Clarke Schmidt’s strikeout total.

New York’s righty has had a fantastic season, going 5-1 with a 2.49 ERA in 50.2 innings pitched, picking up 55 strikeouts along the way.

In his previous outing, Schmidt fired eight scoreless innings with eight K’s against the Minnesota Twins, arguably the best start of his career.

Clarke Schmidt just tossed the BEST START of his professional career today against Minnesota😤

8.0 IP | 3 H | 0 ER | 8 K | 0 BB

ERA down to 2.49👀#Yankees pic.twitter.com/522DoXlBo3

— Fireside Yankees (@FiresideYankees) May 16, 2024

Seattle’s swing-and-miss lineup has produced a team-strikeout percentage of 27.9%, the highest mark in the league, so Schmidt should send more batters back to the dugout tonight.

From an individual standpoint, the Mariners’ Cal Raleigh has the highest strikeout percentage on the team (34.3%, 4th-highest in MLB), followed by Mitch Garver (33.6%, 7th-highest in MLB), Jorge Polanco (31.5%, 11th-highest), Julio Rodriguez (28.1%, 21st), and Mitch Haniger (27.1%, 26th).

Regardless of the construction of this Seattle lineup tonight, the Mariners will go down swinging.

Schmidt happens.

Pick: Schmidt – OVER 6.5 Strikeouts

Best Odds: (-110) DraftKings

Jose Ramirez – 3B, Cleveland Guardians

At 31-17, the Cleveland Guardians have one of the best records in the MLB right now. Only the Philadelphia Phillies (34), Los Angeles Dodgers (33) and New York Yankees (33) have more wins.

That may be surprising to some, but what’s never a surprise is Guardians’ third baseman Jose Ramirez cashing in at the plate.

Ramirez has 41 RBI’s this season, good for third in the MLB, and he’s heating up too, hitting .357 with two home runs and eight RBI over his last seven games.

Your closer vs. ours.#ForTheLand pic.twitter.com/19o80bjmgp

— Cleveland Guardians (@CleGuardians) May 18, 2024

Tonight, Cleveland welcomes the New York Mets and their starting pitcher, Adrian Houser.

Houser (0-3, 7.44 ERA) has been shelled all season, resulting in being demoted to more of a swing-man role.

If Houser only provides a few innings of work, that will only further tax an exhausted Mets’ bullpen.

The biggest issue for Houser has been his command, allowing 23 walks in 32.2 innings this season. A pitcher giving up free bases is always a nice boost to any hitter in the middle of the lineup.

Ramirez is sandwiched perfectly between two solid hitters in the lineup, Andres Gimenez and Josh Naylor.

Whether Ramirez is driving in a run or touching home plate himself, he’ll impact the box score in multiple ways.

There is no better sound than hearing “Jose.. Jose Jose Jose” *sound up* pic.twitter.com/kEgqnXcEqm

— Pete Marek (@PeteMarek) May 18, 2024

Cleveland is Ramirez’ city right now, and Ramirez will have Houser and the Mets wishing they could head back to Queens early.

Pick: Ramirez – OVER 2.5 Hits+Runs+RBI

Best Odds: (+115) BetMGM

Cal Quantrill – SP, Colorado Rockies

Rarely do I place a wager on a pitcher for the Colorado Rockies, but based on Cal Quantrill’s recent performance, I’m willing to take a shot.

In Quantrill’s last three starts, he has allowed just two earned runs in 19.2 innings of work with 19 strikeouts.

Cal Quantrill tonight vs. the Pirates:

7.2 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 9 K 🔥 pic.twitter.com/4NziUR55EK

— B/R Walk-Off (@BRWalkoff) May 4, 2024

Quantrill is not the biggest punchout pitcher, but he has picked up as many as five strikeouts in each of his last three starts and he may have a decent number in the K’s column tonight against the Oakland Athletics.

The Athletics have recorded a team strikeout percentage of 26.1% (second-worst in MLB) and that number is slightly higher at 26.5% against righties.

Quantrill has gone at least five innings or more in eight of his nine starts this season and he should be able to go deep enough in this game against an all-or-nothing A’s lineup to hit the over on his Tuesday strikeout prop.

Pick: Quantrill – OVER 4.5 Strikeouts

Best Odds: (-105) BetMGM

Shohei Ohtani – DH, Los Angeles Dodgers

Los Angeles Dodgers’ slugger Shohei Ohtani is the best hitter in baseball right now.

Ohtani is leading the MLB in batting average (.353), he’s tied for fourth in the league in home runs (13), he’s third in on-base percentage (.424), first in slugging percentage (.653), and first in OPS (1.077).

Ohtani will probably go down as one of the greatest hitters in MLB history.

Shohei homer? That's a Winn. pic.twitter.com/mWdXYLuI6z

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) May 15, 2024

Tonight, the best hitter in baseball will face Arizona Diamondbacks’ righty Brandon Pfaadt.

Pfaadt (1-3, 4.17 ERA) has had trouble with the Dodgers in the past, with some of Ohtani’s teammates putting up strong numbers against the D-Backs’ pitcher in their careers.

Against Pfaadt, leadoff hitter Mookie Betts has gone 3-for-5 (.600), Freddie Freeman has gone 4-for-6 (.667) with three RBI, and Teoscar Hernandez has gone 2-for-3 (.667), so there will likely be plenty of traffic on the bases for Los Angeles tonight.

Ohtani has yet to face Pfaadt, but I would expect him to get some opportunities to swing the stick with runners in scoring position.

With runners in scoring position, Pfaadt has allowed an opposing batting average of .318, so he has struggled with keeping the ball out of play with runners on.

Also, Ohtani could always just bat himself in.

The best odds for Ohtani to go yard tonight is +250 at BetMGM, but I like the more lucrative option of taking Ohtani to finish with 2+ RBIs at DraftKings.

I don’t feel greedy on this bet when backing the best hitter in the game. 

Pick: Ohtani – OVER 1.5 RBI

Best Odds: (+370) DraftKings