It’s time to analyze the board of MLB player props and sift through the data to find those winning picks! My best bets of the day on Underdog Fantasy feature Adley Rutschman against the Oakland Athletics, and then a pair of right-handed pitchers in Mitch Keller and Chase Silseth toeing the rubber against the Minnesota Twins and Tampa Bay Rays respectively. Don't forget to check out the latest MLB weather report, as there is a lot of weather on the radar tonight, and the confirmed MLB lineups when placing those MLB betting picks, and our MLB daily projections and MLB Batter vs Pitcher page will help uncover the best matchups for MLB player props and your MLB DFS lineups. Let's dive into the top MLB player picks on Underdog Fantasy for Saturday, August 19th.

 

Adley Rutschman, Baltimore Orioles - HIGHER than 7.5 Fantasy Points

Rutschman has been crushing left-handed pitching of late. Over his last 24 plate appearances against lefties, not only is he hitting .450, but he’s walked four times, smacked four extra-base hits, and recorded four runs and five RBI. Suffice it to say, he’s been a fantasy point machine of late, and in the month of August overall, he’s slashing .292/.347/.477 with nine runs scored and 11 RBI. Oakland’s Ken Waldichuk has served up a .291 average and .484 SLG to right-handed hitters this season. I don’t love Adley’s home/road splits, especially with this game being away from Camden Yards, but the young backstop has five hits over his last two games, both of which have been on the road.

Mitch Keller, Pittsburgh Pirates - HIGHER than 5.5 Hits Allowed

This one pains me as a Pirates fan, but Keller has struggled since the All-Star Break. In five starts since the break, he’s served up a 7.71 ERA, 5.77 FIP, and 4.69 xFIP, not to mention a 2.20 HR/9. In those five starts, he’s allowed at least six hits in all but one of those outings. While tonight’s opponent, the Minnesota Twins, strikeout a bunch, they’ve posted a .332 wOBA and 113 wRC+ in August against righties. Simply put, I think Keller’s “second half” struggles continue, and while I do think he’ll get his fair share of strikeouts, the Twins are going to knock him around a bit.

Chase Silseth, Los Angeles Angels - HIGHER than 5.5 Strikeouts

Silseth has double-digit strikeouts in two of his last four outings, and over his last four starts overall, he’s posted a 35.6% O-Swing% and 14.8% SwStr%. He’s ramped up the usage on his splitter, which has posted a 45.2 percent whiff rate in August, and the 1-2 punch of his slider and splitter has been great for his strikeout production.

Over the last 30 days, while the Rays have been good against right-handed pitching, they also have struck out 24.1 percent of the time, and if we look solely at the month of August, that mark holds strong at 23.5 percent. For what it’s worth, both of his games with 10+ strikeouts came at home,and that’s where he’ll be pitching again tonight. I’m not saying it’s something, but I’m not saying it’s nothing either!

 

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