Best MLB player prop bets for Monday, May 1

It’s a lighter Monday slate around MLB, with just eight games on the docket as plenty of teams travel, but there are no off days when it comes to player props. Here are three of our favorites.

MLB player prop bets: Monday, May 1st

Matt Chapman, over 0.5 home runs (+265)

Chapman’s numbers against Corey Kluber, who will start for the Boston Red Sox on Monday, seem like they have to be a typo: In six career at-bats against the two-time Cy Young winner, Chapman has five hits, including two doubles and two homers. The third baseman has been among the hottest hitters in baseball all season long, carrying a seven-game hitting streak into play on Monday, and a matchup this good in a hitter-friendly park like Camden Yards is too juicy to pass up.

MacKenzie Gore, over 6.5 strikeouts (+110)

The centerpiece of the Juan Soto trade, Gore has finally started to make good on his prospect pedigree this year, with a 3.00 ERA over his first five starts — and, most importantly for our purposes, 35 strikeouts in just 27 innings. The lefty has struck out at least six in every outing this year, including seven and 10 in his last two, and now he gets to face a slumping Chicago Cubs lineup that was just swept by the Miami Marlins and has the league’s 10th-highest K rate against left-handed pitching.

Luke Weaver, over 4.5 strikeouts (-135)

The profit potential isn’t huge, but this feels like pretty close to a sure thing. Weaver’s given up plenty of loud contact over his first two starts of the season, but he also struck out eight batters in both of those games — thanks in large part to a changeup he’s throwing more often than ever that carries a 59.1% whiff rate. The San Diego Padres will be coming down from the literal and figurative high of their homer-happy series in Mexico City, and as a team they have the third-highest strikeout rate in baseball against righties. The Cincinnati Reds have let Weaver approach 100 pitches in both of his outings, with no real reason not to let him go as long as he can, and he should hit five strikeouts with ease on Monday.