Underdog Fantasy MLB Picks April 15: Wander Franco and Freddy Peralta Atop The Board
Weekend baseball and MLB player props over at Underdog Fantasy, what could be better? After sifting through the data, I have identified my favorite player props of the day. Wander Franco of the Tampa Bay Rays and Ian Happ of the Chicago Cubs are on the best side of their splits, and Milwaukee Brewers starter Freddy Peralta finds himself in an advantageous matchup against a strikeout prone San Diego Padres team. There could be some weather in play today, so don't forget to check out the latest MLB weather report and the confirmed MLB lineups when placing your MLB best bets of the day. Plus, the MLB daily projections and MLB Batter vs Pitcher page will help you find the best matchups for MLB player props and MLB DFS lineups. Without further ado, here are my top MLB player props on Underdog Fantasy for Saturday, April 15th.
Wander Franco OVER 8.5 Fantasy Points
Franco crushes left-handed pitching, it’s what he does. He’s hitting .333 with a 1.067 OPS against left-handed pitching this season, and for his entire young career, he’s hit southpaws at a .335 clip with a .940 OPS. He also has an .801 OPS on the road for his career, and he gets to face Yusei Kikuchi, a southpaw that he has a .333 average against for his career. Ten of the 12 hits Kikuchi has allowed this year have come to right-handed hitters, and he’s coming off a brutal start against the Angels. Franco can rack up fantasy points in multiple ways, and I love his outlook today against the struggling Kikuchi.
Freddy Peralta OVER 5.5 Strikeouts
Guess who is tied for the highest strikeout rate against right-handed pitchers in Major League Baseball this season? You guessed it! The San Diego Padres! Peralta has upped the usage of his slider here in the beginning of 2023, and the returns have been immediate, as that pitch has resulted in a .143 batting average against and a massive 40 percent whiff rate. His velocity is up across the board, and he has seven strikeouts in each of his first two starts of the season. This line seems a bit too low, and if you’re into BvP data, not many of the Padres have great numbers against Peralta. Get on this early, as I expect this will move to six strikeouts sooner rather than later.
Ian Happ OVER 1.5 Hits + Runs + RBI
I like the Cubs to get to Michael Grove today, and it starts with Happ in the middle of the order. Grove was fine against Colorado in his first start, but then Arizona roughed him up big time. When you look further at the numbers, you see that left-handed hitters have a .435 average and .565 SLG against him this season, not to mention a 38.9 percent hard hit rate. Happ is coming off a monster game where he had four hits (three XBH), but for the 2023 season as a whole, he’s hitting .405 with a 1.251 OPS against righties. Lastly, he has a 228 wRC+ against right-handed pitching this season.
Honorable Mention: Graham Ashcraft OVER 5 Strikeouts