The Los Angeles Dodgers and Chicago Cubs conclude the Tokyo Series on Wednesday, March 19. The game is scheduled for 6 a.m. ET and will be broadcast on FS1, Marquee Sports Network and SportsNet LA.
For my Dodgers vs Cubs MLB player props, I'm targeting three Dodgers: Roki Sasaki, Tommy Edman, Teoscar Hernandez.
Let's dive into my Dodgers vs Cubs player props for Wednesday.
MLB Props for Wednesday, March 19
- Tommy Edman Over 0.5 Runs Scored (+115, BetRivers)
- Teoscar Hernandez Over 1.5 Total Bases (+115, BetRivers)
- Roki Sasaki Under 4.5 Strikeouts (-120, BetRivers)
We're kicking things off by going back to a guy who cashed for us in Game 1 of the Tokyo Series: Tommy Edman.
Edman was unable to take advantage of his splits edge against Cubs starter Shota Imanaga, but Edman still recorded a single off righty Ben Brown.
However, Edman is going to get another shot to get on base with Justin Steele toeing the slab for Chicago in Game 2. We went over just how well Edman mashed lefties, but I'm backing him to score a run because of his spot in the lineup.
With Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman out of the Dodgers' lineup in Game 1, Edman slid up to the two-hole behind Shohei Ohtani.
Given Edman's splits, I like him to find his way on against Steele and be driven in by the next hitter we're targeting.
Teoscar Hernandez is the next Dodger to have a great matchup against Justin Steele.
Much like Edman, Hernandez hits lefties exceedingly well, except with more power. Last season, Hernandez hit .290 with a .284 ISO and 46.7% extra-base hit rate against lefties. Those are gaudy numbers, and it only helps that Steele is slightly worse against righties.
Steele allowed righties to slug .354, which is 18 points higher than his season-long percentage. He also allowed extra-base hits at a 3% higher clip than average.
We saw Hernandez join the party in the series opener when the Dodgers rallied against Brown, but look for him to make a bigger impact earlier in this one.
Last, but certainly not least, we turn our attention to Roki Sasaki.
The prized free-agent acquisition gets to make his MLB debut in his native Japan, but I'm concerned about just how long his debut will last.
Sasaki only made two appearances in Spring Training and did not throw more than 46 pitches in an outing. If you take an average inning of 15 pitches per inning, his ceiling for this outing is around four inning — if not less.
The sportsbooks also know this — his Outs Recorded prop opened at 13.5 and has dipped to 12.5 (and juiced to the under). Aside from length concerns, Sasaki is set to face a full-strength Cubs lineup that includes up to six hitters with a below-average strikeout rate against righties.
Even if Sasaki is sharp, his upside is capped, so the best strategy is to fade his strikeout total.
