Brent Rooker and Yandy Diaz are both swinging hot bats, and I’ve got them in my sights for Monday’s MLB prop bets.
Today’s MLB props narrative: Rooker has the benefit of playing home games in an exceptionally hitter-friendly park, and he should take advantage of that amid a nearly month-long power surge. Diaz, meanwhile, has five multi-hit games in his past six.
Check out the best MLB prop bets for June 16, also featuring Roman Anthony.
MLB prop bets
Best bet: Rooker over 1.5 total bases (+102)
Houston starter Lance McCullers Jr. carved up the Athletics a few weeks ago, collecting 12 strikeouts in 6.0 innings of work.
The only A’s hitter who didn’t strike out against McCullers? Rooker.
He’s generally a free-swinger, but Rooker is seeing the ball really well right now.
Check out his numbers over the past 23 games (since May 22):
- .375 BA
- .648 SLG
- 2.5 bases/game
- 54% hard-hit rate
- 11.9 K%
It’s not like Rooker’s .375 BA since May 22 is inflated, either. In that span, he also has a .365 xBA, per Baseball Savant.
McCullers is back on the mound for the Astros tonight, giving Rooker a second look at him in three weeks. On May 28, he went 2-for-3 with a double vs. the right-hander.
Also, this time around, they’ll play at Sutter Health Park in Sacramento. The A’s temporary home is the second-friendliest offensive park this year, allowing 32% more doubles than average.
Key stat: Rooker has gone over 1.5 bases in 13 of his past 23 games (56.5%).
Best MLB picks
Anthony over 0.5 hits (-129): A 1-for-17 start is certainly not what was expected for a consensus top-three MLB prospect, but I don’t expect Anthony to stay down forever.
The left-hitting outfielder posted a .913 OPS with Triple-A Worcester before getting called up to the Boston Red Sox a week ago.
He’s averaging a 94.3-mph exit velocity on 12 balls in play, per Baseball Savant. For context, only six qualified hitters have an average higher than that.
Tonight’s matchup against Seattle starter Logan Gilbert isn’t an enviable one, but I still don’t mind it for Anthony. LHBs are batting .239 vs. Gilbert this year (compared to a .109 BA for RHBs), so he at least has a bit of a platoon advantage.
Also, Gilbert hasn’t pitched in the majors since April, so there could be some rust — if not a reduced workload.
Diaz over 1.5 total bases (+112): Diaz has cashed this bet in five of his past six games, batting 13-for-26 in that span.
He’s a consistently elite hitter when it comes to hard contact, ranking in the 92nd percentile or better in average exit velocity over each of the past four seasons.
The difficulty at times has been elevating the ball, but Diaz is doing just fine with that right now.
Over his past 25 games, Diaz has posted a .490 SLG and is averaging 2.0 bases.
On the mound for the Orioles tonight is ex-Ray Zach Eflin, who has allowed 18 hits in 16.0 innings over his past three road starts.
MLB prop picks made at 9:45 a.m. ET on 06/16/2025.
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.