It is Opening Day in Milwaukee after the Brewers began the season with a sweep over the Mets. They will host their old AL rival Minnesota Twins, who began the season with a series win over the Royals. Louie Varland will get the ball for the Twins.
Speaking of the Royals, they began a series in Baltimore last night. The Orioles took game one with a walk-off home run by Jordan Westburg. Adley Rutschman also contributed to the victory and will look to stay hot against Royals right-hander Alec Marsh.
The Cardinals did not get any favors from the schedule-makers with a four-game series against the Dodgers to begin the season. While they lost three of four, they took the first game of their series against the Padres last night. They will look to start a win streak against Yu Darvish tonight. Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado will look to find the hit column again. So, let's look at the MLB props today and make some MLB prop picks.
MLB Player Props Today, April 2
Last season, Louie Varland worked as both a starter and reliever in his second season in the big leagues. Regardless of the role, he showed strikeout stuff along with solid command. The 26-year-old had 71 strikeouts in 68 innings of work. He also walked just 17 batters for a 4.25-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio.
Varland appeared in 17 games last season, 10 of them being starts. In those 10 starts, he had five strikeouts in seven of them. In two of those starts, he did not even last a full five innings. He was also hooked on four in two of the three starts that he went under this line.
Now, Varland was not spotless last season. He lost his spot in the rotation after a rough June and finished the season with a 4.63 ERA. The Brewers scored 14 runs in their series against the Mets and touched Luis Severino up for six runs on 12 hits on Saturday. However, Severino also had six strikeouts in just five innings. Fellow starters Jose Quintana and Tylor Megill both had four strikeouts, but neither completed five innings.
With this being Varland's first start, I would not expect him to extend past five innings either. However, if he matches his rate from last season, he should be able to get five strikeouts in five innngs in this matchup.
Pick: Louie Varland Over 4.5 Strikeouts (-150 at FanDuel)
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The Orioles' offense has gotten off to a fast start this season as they have scored six or more runs in each of their three wins. Adley Rutschman has helped fuel the attack from the top of the lineup. He has scored six of the Orioles' 31 runs this season and drove in another two. He also has five hits in 14 at-bats this season.
As a result of his fast start, Rutschman has hit this line in three of his first four games this season. In those games, he has had at least three hits + runs + runs batted in, including seven in the season opener. Tonight, we only need two from him and he has the matchup to get there.
Royals starter Alec Marsh had a 5.69 ERA and allowed 16 home runs in 74 1/3 innings last season. Rutschman has yet to face him. However, Marsh allowed left-handed hitters to hit .280, slug .561 and record 20 extra-base hits.
Those splits not only help the switch-hitting Rutschman, but also teammates Gunnar Henderson and Anthony Santander. Rutschman has hit in between the two of them in a couple of the team's first four games.
If Henderson gets on, Rutschman can knock him in with a hit. Santander can knock in Rutschman if he gets on first. A hit and either a run scored or run batted in gets Rutschman over this line.
Last night, Henderson, Rutschman, Santander and Ryan Mountcastle — who hit fourth last night — all hit this line. Rutschman's odds are among the best tonight, which is why I am backing him to stay hot.
Pick: Adley Rutschman Over 1.5 Hits + Runs + RBI (-130 at DraftKings)
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At this stage of the season, it is too early to worry about slow starts. Several stars are either looking for their first home run or enter today's action batting below the Mendoza line.
One of those stars is Nolan Arenado, who will enter tonight's game hitting .143 thus far. However, Arenado picked up two of his three hits on the season last night, including an RBI double in the first inning.
Paul Goldschmidt gave the Cardinals a 4-0 lead in the second inning with an RBI single. He has a hit in three of his first five games this season and is hitting .278 to begin the season. Both Arenado and Goldschmidt have enjoyed a lot of success against Padres starter Yu Darvish.
Arenado is 8-for-20 (.400) with three home runs and nine runs batted in against Darvish. Meanwhile Goldschmidt is 9-for-31 (.290) with a double, home run and three runs batted in against him.
Darvish has fared well in his first two starts, allowing seven hits and posting a 1.04 in 8 2/3 innings. Last season, Darvish allowed right-handed batters to hit .245 against him.
Even if he strings together another quality outing, we're not asking Arenado and Goldschmidt to each hit home runs tonight. Just one hit apiece will do and we get plus odds for this combo on DraftKings.
This may cash in the first inning if the Cardinals string together an early rally against Darvish.
Pick: Nolan Arenado/Paul Goldschmidt One Hit Parlay (+120 at DraftKings)
