Two of my three MLB prop picks for Thursday come from the last game of the night between the San Francisco Giants and Los Angeles Dodgers.
Today’s MLB props narrative: The rivals collide in L.A. and I like two of the game’s biggest stars to do damage. Mookie Betts and Shohei Ohtani are sizzling ahead of tonight’s fourth meeting this season vs. Giants ace Logan Webb.
Check out my top MLB prop bets for Sept. 18, featuring a prediction on Cincinnati Reds starter Hunter Greene.
MLB prop bets
Best bet: Greene under 6.5 Ks (+100)
The flamethrowing righty could very well come out and punch out double-digit batters, something he’s done twice in six starts since coming off the injured list in mid-August.
But Greene’s upside is severely limited tonight against the Chicago Cubs, a difficult team to retire on strikes.
- Chicago sports the fifth-lowest K rate vs. righties and seventh-lowest in MLB in the second half.
- Greene faced the Cubs way back in May, striking out a season-low two batters over four innings of work.
The 26-year-old has thrown the ball well at home but facing a good lineup at Great American Ball Park is always a concern. It’s been the third-most hitter-friendly spot in MLB over the last three years, per Baseball Savant, and No. 2 in home runs.
Greene has struggled to keep the ball in the yard, too, allowing homers at an above-average rate.
Key stat: Greene started the year 6-1 vs. this number. Since then, he’s gone 4-6.
Best MLB picks
Betts over 1.5 total bases (+110): I keep playing Betts on this market and have no intentions of slowing down, not when it’s plus money.
- Betts is hitting .349/.377/.683 with five homers and 19 RBI in 15 games this month.
- He has a 1.007 OPS over his last 25 contests, averaging 2.4 total bases per game. Betts has topped this line in 15 of those games.
Webb’s a great pitcher but he’s been rocked twice by the Dodgers this season — including his last start — and Betts has had a lot of success vs. him in a fairly large sample.
Betts is slashing .381/.435/.571 with only four strikeouts in 46 career plate appearances against Webb.
Ohtani over 1.5 total bases (-120): Ohtani hasn’t seen Webb as much as Betts but the numbers are still fantastic:
- .368/.478/.790 with a pair of bombs in 24 PAs.
That’s simply the icing on the cake. Ohtani especially demolishes righties, is having an even better September than Betts and is very rarely available at this price.
The reigning MVP blasted home run No. 51 last night, No. 50 the night before, and is hitting .333/.465/.737 this month.
Ohtani ranks No. 1 in MLB vs. RHPs in homers (38) and ISO (.376).
MLB prop picks made at 3:05 p.m. ET on 09/18/2025.
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.