The New York Mets and Milwaukee Brewers will play a decisive Game 3 of their NL wild-card series tonight at American Family Field.
The pregame narrative: None of the other wild-card series reached a rubber match, which puts this game fully in the spotlight tonight. In the prop market, I like Jackson Chourio to score and am backing both starting pitchers (Jose Quintana, Tobias Myers) to collect a handful of strikeouts.
Check out my Mets vs. Brewers prop picks for Game 3 of their wild-card series on Oct. 3.
Mets vs. Brewers prop picks
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Best Bet: Chourio over 0.5 runs (+116)
Maybe it’s because he already has a long-term contract in place, or maybe it’s because he’s just really good. But either way, Chourio has looked comfortable at the MLB level from the jump.
The 20-year-old outfielder posted a 3.8 bWAR season with 20-plus homers and steals. He also finished third on the Brewers in total bases (245).
Okay, so the regular season didn’t faze Chourio … but surely the youngster would trip up in his first playoff action, right?
Nope.
Chourio is 4-for-8 with three runs, three RBI and two homers in this wild-card series. Last night, he hit game-tying HRs in the first and eighth innings for the Brewers to help keep their season alive.
Since the all-star break, Chourio has primarily batted in the Nos. 1 and 2 spots in Milwaukee’s lineup. That’s the ideal spot to be when you’re looking for a guy to score.
It also helps that Chourio is one of the league’s fastest players, ranking in the 97th percentile for sprint speed, per Baseball Savant.
One challenge here is that Quintana is on fire, only allowing four runs over his past six starts (0.74 ERA). But Chourio has had great swings against the New York starter and should give himself a chance to cash this prop.
Key stat: Chourio is 3-for-5 with a double and a walk against Quintana.
Quick pick
Parlay: Quintana, Myers 4+ Ks each (+128): As I just mentioned above, Quintana is scorching right now.
The veteran lefty shrugged off a rough start to August by posting a 0.74 ERA and .197 opponent BA since Aug. 25. He finished the year against the Brewers, fanning nine batters over just 4.1 innings of two-run ball.
Quintana cleared this K total in 22 of 31 starts this year and has an impressive 25.3% K rate in 79 plate appearances against Milwaukee’s active lineup.
On the other side of this matchup, I think Myers can carve up the Mets even if his role is somewhat limited.
On short rest in his final outing of the season, Myers struck out five Mets in just 4.0 innings. That allowed the rookie to finish the year with a solid 3.00 ERA and an 8.3 K/9.
He cashed this bet in 19 of 25 starts. Four Ks is not a big ask for Myers against the Mets, who had the 10th-highest K rate in the second half.
Picks made at 9:20 a.m. ET 10/03/2024.
Jordan enjoys writing data-driven game previews and analysis articles — especially for MLB markets or NFL/NBA props. And as a proud Ohio University grad, he’ll always have a soft spot for college sports (especially if the Bobcats are involved). Previous stops include mlb.com, Sportsnet and The Athletic.