MLB picks today: Best player prop bets for Tuesday, September 19

After a lighter Monday schedule due to travel, the big leagues are back with a full 15-game slate on Tuesday, September 19 — meaning plenty of opportunities for those looking for profitable player props. To help you sort through it all, here are three of our favorite plays for tonight’s action, with odds courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook.

MLB player prop bets: Tuesday, September 19

Luis Castillo, over 7.5 Ks (-105)

Castillo remains one of the best pitchers in baseball, and one of its premier strikeout artists: The Mariners righty has very strong whiff (84th percentile) and K (76th percentile) rates, and while this is an awfully high number, he’s cleared it in four of his last seven starts. He also has a dream matchup on Tuesday, going up against the Oakland Athletics at the pitcher-friendly Coliseum. The last time Castillo faced the A’s, he racked up eight punchouts in six shutout innings back in May. If anything, Oakland’s lineup has gotten even worse in the interim; they have an OBP below .300 and the league’s second-highest strikeout rate against right-handed pitchers since the start of September. Castillo should go at least six or even seven innings tonight, making this total eminently attainable.

Taj Bradley, over 6.5 Ks (-105)

Bradley’s command struggles have continued since returning to the Rays rotation earlier this month, with a whopping 10 walks and five homers allowed over three starts. But the former top prospects’ stuff is as electric as ever: He’s also struck out 17 batters in 16 innings over those three outings, clearing this total in two of them despite not lasting more than five frames. I’m betting that Tuesday night is the night the righty puts it all together, largely thanks to the matchup.

Bradley draws the withered husk of what was once the Angels lineup, and L.A. has been positively awful against righties of late. Not only are they batting .212/.276/.381 as a team against right-handed pitching since September 1, but they also have a 28.2% K rate that’s the worst in all of baseball. The Majors’ most strikeout-prone squad against a pitcher with an elite, 85th-percentile strikeout rate? If Bradley makes it through even five innings tonight, the sky is the limit.

Gleyber Torres, to hit a home run (+425)

Home run props are never for the faint of heart, but I think there are a lot of trendlines pointing in Torres’ direction as the Yankees try to keep their slim playoff hopes alive against the Blue Jays on Tuesday night. Toronto will be sending Yusei Kikuchi to the mound, and the lefty has been awfully wobbly of late — with a 5.68 ERA over his last five starts, including six-run outings against the Rockies and Rangers so far this month. Kikuchi has also been far more prone to give up the long ball against righties, with 20 of his 26 homers allowed coming against righties and a big gap in slugging percentage (.435 vs. .380).

Torres has hit Kikuchi very well in his career, going 8-for-20 with a homer and a walk in 21 plate appearances, and 16 of his 25 homers so far this season have come in the friendly confines of Yankee Stadium. (In fact, Torres’ home OPS of .835 is over 60 points higher than his road mark of .774.) With the short porch looming and a hitter who knows how to take advantage of it — especially with the platoon advantage, and especially against this specific pitcher — I’d roll the dice on Gleyber.