Blue Jays vs. Angels prop bets: Back Varsho, Chapman to record a hit

Jose Berrios and Tyler Anderson take the mound as the Los Angeles Angels host the Toronto Blue Jays on Saturday night.

The pregame narrative: Taylor Ward is scoring with impressive frequency, and it wouldn’t surprise us if he extended his streak in this matchup. Shohei Ohtani is worth a bet of some kind against Berrios (we’re opting for his RBI prop), while Daulton Varsho and Matt Chapman should manage one hit apiece.

Here are our Blue Jays vs. Angels prop bets for the April 8 game at Angel Stadium.

MLB odds as of 12:50 p.m. ET on 04/08/23.

Blue Jays vs. Angels prop bets

Best Bet: Ward over 0.5 runs (-117)

As you might suspect, batting ahead of Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani is a great way to score some runs. Especially when you get on base as often as Ward.

Ward has reached safely in all seven games this year, and he’s scored in six consecutive games. He even got himself into scoring position on Opening Day — with a single and a stolen base — to give himself a chance of crossing the plate.

When you consider all the factors involved here, a -117 price point for Ward to score is rather palatable. He’s on an impressive on-base and run-scoring streak, as mentioned, and bats leadoff ahead of two former MVPs.

Also, the Blue Jays are sending Berrios out to the mound tonight. Berrios was dreadful last year, pitching to a 5.23 ERA over 32 starts. That included giving up six runs in just 2.1 innings on May 29 against the Angels.

Ward scored twice in that game. And he’s a good bet to score again tonight.

Key stat: Ward has reached safely in two of four plate appearances against Berrios, with a double and a run scored.

Quick picks

Varsho, Chapman 1+ hits each (+123): Lefty-on-lefty matchups haven’t harmed Varsho in his career, as his .240 batting average vs. southpaws is a few points above his mark against righties.

Also, Varsho has nine hits in his past six games and is 3-for-4 lifetime against Anderson.

Chapman is hitless in three tries against Anderson, but we aren’t concerned. The third baseman is blazing at the dish right now, with an MLB-high 14 hits — including at least one in six straight games.

Ohtani over 0.5 RBIs (+123): With how hard Ohtani has hit the ball off Berrios, we had to find a way to tail the two-way superstar.

Ohtani is 6-for-14 off Berrios, with all six of those hits going for extra bases. If someone is on base for him, there’s a solid chance he can bring them around.

In seven games, Ohtani has six RBIs. He homered twice off Berrios a season ago.

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