If you have a craving for day baseball, the Guardians and Royals have you covered with an afternoon first pitch. Steven Kwan will come in swinging a hot bat, and he has had a ton of success against Brady Singer as well. That may help him get the Guardians on the scoreboard.
For the evening slate, a couple more hot hitters we have backed recently are Trea Turner and Julio Rodriguez. Turner and the Phillies are in Atlanta, where they will get another shot at the Braves.
Rodriguez and the Mariners will be in Oakland, where they will look to shake off getting swept by the Dodgers. Rodriguez will likely be the one leading the way.
MLB Player Props For Monday, September 18
Steven Kwan is hitting .302 with a .395 on-base percentage in September. He has a hit in 13 of 16 games this month, including six multi-hit games. More recently, Kwan has recorded two hits in three of his past four games. He has also scored a run in four of his past five games, which is part of why I am looking at him today.
Kwan likely will not hit this line with a home run. He does not have a home run this month and he has just five this season. However, he will likely be on base. Kwan is hitting .277 against right-handed pitching, and he is 7-for-16 (.438) with a double against Brady Singer.
The Royals' right-hander has some very interesting splits. Singer is allowing a higher batting average to right-handed hitters, but he is allowing more power to left-handed hitters, who have 25 doubles, five triples and 10 home runs against him.
If Kwan hits a double or triple today, that will give him two total bases, but that will also put him in scoring position to be knocked in. The man to knock him will likely be Jose Ramirez.
By his high standard, Ramirez is having a down season, but he still has 24 home runs and 78 runs batted in. Ramirez typically bats behind Kwan in the Guardians lineup and lately he has been in the two hole. He also is 9-for-21 with two home runs against Singer.
The Guardians are not a team that typically lights up the scoreboard, but they have scored five runs in three of their last four games, including two with nine runs or more. If not Ramirez, another teammate may knock in Kwan today.
Pick: Steven Kwan Over 0.5 Runs Scored (-119 at Caesars)
In last week's series against the Braves, Trea Turner had two hits in each of the first three games of the series. He went hitless in the final game, but that has been the exception rather than the rule of late.
Turner has a hit in 23 of his last 25 games. Over his last 30 days, he is hitting .374 with five doubles, a triple, 14 home runs, 31 runs batted in and 1.240 OPS.
Turner will face right-hander Kyle Wright, against whom he is just 2-for-9. However, Wright has a 7.48 ERA, 1.89 WHIP and 12.05 H/9 allowed this season. He started last Monday's game against the Phillies and allowed six runs in three innings. It was the fourth time in six starts that Wright has failed to reach the fourth inning, so Turner may have just two plate appearances against him.
Three of the four games in last week's series had over 10 combined runs. The series now shifts to Atlanta, and Turner is hitting .299 at Truist Park in his career. He has recorded two total bases in 11 of 14 games this month. I am expecting that trend to go to 12 of 15 after tonight.
Pick: Trea Turner Over 1.5 Total Bases (-119 at Caesars)
Julio Rodriguez saw his eight-game hitting streak come to an end yesterday with an 0-for-5 performance against the Dodgers. It also snapped a streak of eight straight games with two total bases.
The Mariners scored just six runs in the three-game series against the Dodgers. I am expecting the team and Rodriguez to have more success against the A's tonight.
Tonight's starter for the A's is JP Sears, who is 5-11 with a 4.45 ERA. He has allowed 22 doubles, three triples, and 25 home runs against right-handed hitters. Rodriguez is 3-for-11 against Sears and is hitting .331 against left-handed pitching this season. Rodriguez is also hitting .400 against Oakland this season.
We last backed Rodriguez last Monday, when he had four hits and hit his 30th home run of the season. He has not homered since, but the power display he has put on recently has helped to get two total bases with consistency.
In September, he has four doubles, one triple, and six home runs. He has also five multi-hit games in his past eight. Against a porous A's pitching staff, I like Rodriguez's chances of getting two total bases tonight.
Pick: Julio Rodriguez 2+ Total Bases (-145 at FanDuel)
