Today’s light MLB schedule wraps up early, but I’m still serving up three prop pick recommendations for Thursday’s action.
Today’s MLB props narrative: James Wood, 22, is hitting like a seasoned veteran. I like the price point on his total bases prop, which the Washington Nationals star has been clearing at a high clip.
Check out my top MLB prop bets for June 5, featuring predictions on Jonathan Aranda and Robbie Ray.
MLB prop bets
Best bet: Wood over 1.5 total bases (+107)
Only five players in MLB have topped 1.5 bases more frequently than Wood, per Team Rankings.
The left-handed hitting slugger is raking, entering the day with 16 homers and a .940 OPS.
To attack Wood and get leadoff man CJ Abrams to bat from the right side, the Chicago Cubs are deploying lefty opener Drew Pomeranz.
But losing the platoon advantage in his first plate appearance isn’t a huge issue to me, considering how Wood has handled southpaws and who he’ll see after that.
Wood is slugging an impressive .520 vs. LHPs with an .865 OPS.
Once Pomeranz’s day is done, Chicago is turning to righty Colin Rea, who has been much more effective against RHBs this season.
Rea doesn’t strike out a lot of batters and doesn’t walk many either, giving Wood a good chance to put the ball in play.
Key stat: Wood has cleared 1.5 total bases in 11 of his last 15 games, hitting .315 with a 1.048 OPS.
Best MLB picks
Aranda over 1.5 total bases (+120): The Tampa Bay Rays first baseman has demolished right-handed pitching and is tearing the cover off the ball at home.
He’ll see a right-hander tonight at home when his Rays host Jack Leiter and the Texas Rangers.
The hard-throwing righty has been a servicable backend arm but has lacked swing and miss and struggled with control, heightening his chances to put himself in hitters’ counts.
That should bode well for a bat like Aranda, whose .326 average and 170 wRC+ both rank sixth in MLB.
- Aranda at home: .385/.460/.578
- Aranda vs. RHPs: .338/.417/.556
The 27-year-old has recorded 17 of his 19 extra-base hits vs. righties.
Ray over 5.5 Ks (-141): You can make a case to be on either side of this line or just stay away altogether.
The San Diego Padres are the most difficult team to strike out in the National League and fan at the second-lowest rate vs. lefties in all of MLB.
Ray, on the other hand, has been dynamite, sporting an exceptional K rate (top 15 among starters) and working deep into ball games.
That latter point helps make this playable for me.
San Diego’s offence, while dangerous, has been sputtering.
- The Padres rank 26th in wRC+ over the last two weeks and have gotten on base at the third-worst clip in baseball over that stretch.
- Ray has worked six-plus innings in seven consecutive outings.
- He eclipsed this number in all but one of those starts and put up a 1.38 ERA in six May outings.
And he’ll be at home today, where he has a 1.89 ERA at his pitcher-friendly park.
MLB prop picks made at 12:25 p.m. ET on 06/05/2025.
Chris joined NorthStar Gaming from Covers.com where he was a publishing editor and wrote betting content. Before that, he was the sports editor at VICE Canada, worked for theScore and covered the Blue Jays for MLB.com. In addition to filling out the lineup card each day for the editorial team, Chris writes frequently himself, primarily on the NBA and MLB.