The Blue Jays have won four games in a row and five of their past six, and just took Game 1 of a four-game series with Cleveland. Toronto will be looking to continue its momentum on Tuesday and move further up the AL East standings, while we look to capitalize on the best SuperDraft over/under player props and make some Tuesday night cash.
Only seven games separate John Schneider's club from the first-place Orioles, and the Jays not sit firmly in the third AL Wild Card spot with a three-game cushion over the Mariners. A win tonight over a reeling 54-59 Cleveland team would put a ton of pressure on the Rays and Astros, who sit four games and 0.5 games ahead of Toronto in the Wild Card seeding.
Left-handed pitcher Yusei Kikuchi takes the mound for the Blue Jays, coming off an impressive four-game stretch. He has allowed one run or fewer in each of those four outings, lowering his ERA to 3.67 in the process. The Guardians counter with rookie Tanner Bibee, one of the bright spots of an otherwise dreary season for Terry Francona's squad. Both these starters make the short list of our favorite player props for the night.
For those who aren't familiar with SuperDraft, sign up now! Users can pick their favorite over/unders via SuperDraft's Fantasy Props feature, bringing them closer to the action while having a chance to win cash prizes. You win three times the amount you wager if your two-legged player prop parlay hits, and the more legs you add to your player prop parlay, the larger your potential payout becomes.
Below, we'll break down four of our favorite SuperDraft player props for the Blue Jays-Guardians game on Tuesday evening. Users don't necessarily have to parlay all four picks together, though. Instead, you could make separate two-legged parlays to increase your win probability or attempt to hit it big if all four picks come through. Good luck, have fun, and enjoy your night!
Best Blue Jays-Guardians prop bets today: SuperDraft player prop picks for Tuesday 8/8
*10x potential payout if users parlay all four correct picks
1. Yusei Kikuchi, SP, Blue Jays — UNDER 5.5 strikeouts (3.5/5 confidence)
Kikuchi has been dominant over the past month, but his strikeout totals have been a bit more up-and-down. He has logged two eight-strikeout games over his past three starts, but he also has strikeout totals of three, four, and four dating back to July 6. We're projecting him UNDER 5.5 Ks tonight, simply because his pinpoint control should elicit a ton of ground balls from the inferior bats of the Guardians.
Seriously, though — Cleveland has the best rotational ERA (2.97) in the second half of the season and one of the best closers in the game in Immanuel Clase — and yet the Guardians are five games below .500. What does that tell you!? This offense stinks! But that doesn't necessarily mean it whiffs a ton — Cleveland actually strikes out at the lowest rate in the majors (6.9 times per game).
Hyun Jin Ryu threw four innings of one-hit ball against the Guardians last night one game removed from the IL! And after a come-backer knocked Ryu out of the game, a stable of relievers allowed just one run on five hits in the remaining five innings. The Guardians are also one week removed from Framber Valdez throwing a no-hitter against them. But Ryu and company totaled just five Ks last night, and Valdez had just seven in the no-hitter. Bet on the UNDER here.
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2. Tanner Bibee, SP, Guardians — UNDER 5.5 strikeouts (3/5 confidence)
Bibee has also been solid this season — the Guardians have won six of his past eight starts — but he's similarly enjoying a roller-coaster performance in the strikeout department. Look at his total K count over the past five games: 4, 6, 8, 6. 4.
First of all, that's a palindromic number sequence, so that's cool. Secondly, it tells us that OVER 5.5 is not a great bet, especially against a team like Toronto that strikes out at the seventh-lowest rate in the bigs (8.1 per game). Sure, they got sat down 13 times last night, but Gavin Williams was on a whole different stratosphere.
Expect the Blue Jays to make plenty of contact against Bibee, whose whiff rate is in just the 56th percentile of MLB pitchers and sub-24 percent strikeout rate shouldn't exactly strike fear in the hearts of the Toronto lineup.
3. Jose Ramirez, 3B, Guardians — UNDER 6 fantasy points (3/5 confidence)
Ramirez continues to start despite his looming suspension for the Tim Anderson brawl, as the Guardians third baseman has appealed the three-game sentence. In the meantime, we don't love his chances of showing out tonight against Kikuchi. As we said, Kikuchi has been masterful as of late — and Ramirez has struggled mightily against southpaws all season.
Don't believe us? Look at his slash line against lefties: .216/.257/.403 with just 20 RBIs in 148 plate appearances. We don't love betting against perennial MVP candidates, but we're comfortable with saying JRam is having an off year and he's clearly got a lot on his mind in the wake of the weekend fight night and looming suspension. Bet the UNDER here.
4. Oscar Gonzalez, OF, Guardians — UNDER 0.5 singles (2/5 confidence)
Gonzalez has gone hitless in two straight games, he's batting .218 on the season, and he's facing a left-handed pitcher who has been mowing down righties lately. Add to that the specificity of "single" as opposed to "hit," and we like this prop enough to add to the list of contenders. Although, in all honesty, we will most likely just stick to the first three props and give ourselves a greater opportunity of pulling in some cash.
