{"id":360405,"date":"2025-07-31T16:47:27","date_gmt":"2025-07-31T20:47:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cms.northstargaming.ca\/admin\/nsgcms\/?p=360405"},"modified":"2025-07-31T16:47:27","modified_gmt":"2025-07-31T20:47:27","slug":"mlb-prop-bets-and-predictions-july-31","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cms.northstargaming.ca\/admin\/nsgcms\/mlb-prop-bets-and-predictions-july-31\/","title":{"rendered":"Best MLB prop bets July 31: Back Elly De La Cruz, Kumar Rocker and J.P. Crawford on Thursday"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>There are only two MLB games tonight, but I have three prop picks for the ultra-light slate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p id=\"block-d0873b89-4dfa-47d6-9954-56140c451c77\"><strong>Today&#8217;s MLB props narrative<\/strong>: Elly De La Cruz has a juicy matchup and I expect him to mash at home. I&#8217;m also backing a slumping J.P. Crawford, who has the luxury of hitting atop a suddenly stacked Seattle Mariners lineup.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p id=\"block-d0873b89-4dfa-47d6-9954-56140c451c77\">Check out my best MLB prop bets for July 31, featuring a prediction on Kumar Rocker.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"block-22b3784f-32c2-400a-beef-1578a991be49\">MLB prop bets<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.northstarbets.com\/sportsbook\/sports\/baseball\/competitions\/10065\"><strong>Full MLB betting markets<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.northstarbets.com\/sportsbook\/news\/article\/mlb-injury-report\"><strong>MLB injury report<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.northstarbets.com\/sportsbook\/news\/stats\/mlb\/top-players\/hitting\/OPS-on-base_plus_slugging\"><strong>MLB player stats<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.northstarbets.com\/sportsbook\/news\/stats\/mlb\/standings\/division\"><strong>MLB standings<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p id=\"block-0c59b741-4781-48d8-8ffa-d93f8ee90c10\"><strong>Best bet: De La Cruz over 1.5 total bases (-112)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Carlos Carrasco at Great American Ball Park. What could go wrong? Plenty.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Carrasco, recently acquired from the New York Yankees, is well past his best-before date and making his Atlanta Braves debut at one of the game\u2019s most hitter-friendly venues.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Wind is expected to be blowing out at the offensive-minded park, making this a terrible spot for the veteran 38-year-old.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Carrasco turned in a 5.91 ERA over eight appearances with the Yankees.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>He was even worse in the previous two seasons, putting up a 6.18 ERA with a sky-high home run rate and weak strikeout totals.&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Once the Cincinnati Reds knock the right-hander out of the game, the Braves will turn to a bullpen that has an MLB-worst 8.10 ERA in the second half.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>As for De La Cruz, he&#8217;s worth a look in any matchup vs. a righty starter. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The all-star shortstop does most of his damage from the left side, batting .302\/.394\/.532 with 13 of his 18 homers vs. RHPs.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To no surprise, the dynamic 23-year-old has been especially strong at home, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p id=\"block-13bf476e-3f27-4d52-86f2-70dff07fd638\"><strong>Key stat<\/strong>: De La Cruz is batting .307 and slugging .500 in Cincinnati.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"block-ebade6eb-0e6a-4675-8cbc-3a4396c11ac4\">Best MLB picks<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Rocker over 4.5 Ks (-134)<\/strong>: Rocker turned in an 8.10 ERA over his first five starts this season, leading to his demotion.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The hyped prospect has left a lot to be desired, but he\u2019s been better since returning in June.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Rocker has a 4.54 ERA in his past eight starts, striking out nearly a batter per inning.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He\u2019s battled control issues and generally doesn\u2019t work deep, so there\u2019s some risk here at a price that\u2019s not great. But the hard-throwing righty has upside. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Rocker has cleared this line in five of those eight starts and was a big strikeout arm in the minors.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>When he faced the Mariners in June, he punched out six in 6.0 IP.&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Seattle has the fifth-highest strikeout rate in the second half and 10th-highest mark vs. righties this season.&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>The Mariners\u2019 offence has also been anemic in the second half, posting an MLB-worst 79 wRC+, though their lineup looks much more powerful with the acquisitions of Josh Naylor and Eugenio Suarez.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p id=\"block-310bddf4-d3c1-4fc6-8fe4-37281455da02\"><strong>Crawford over 0.5 runs (+100)<\/strong>: Just because I like Rocker to clear a modest K total doesn\u2019t mean I\u2019m betting against the Mariners.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Seattle should be able to get to him, especially if he\u2019s handing out free passes.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And this new-and-improved lineup is rich with thumpers slotting behind their leadoff man, Crawford.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The outfielder has been abysmal this month, but he&#8217;s batting .293 with a strong .376 on-base percentage vs. righties.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If Crawford gets on base, he\u2019ll be providing these guys with a chance to cash him in: <\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Julio Rodriguez<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Cal Raleigh<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Randy Arozarena<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Naylor <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Suarez<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p id=\"block-310bddf4-d3c1-4fc6-8fe4-37281455da02\">At plus money, I\u2019ll happily take my chances there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p id=\"block-571cf986-8d14-4776-b519-20fa27d04fec\"><em>MLB prop picks made at 4:40 p.m. ET on 07\/31\/2025<\/em>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>There are only two MLB games tonight, but I have three prop picks for the ultra-light slate. Today&#8217;s MLB props narrative: Elly De La Cruz has a juicy matchup and I expect him to mash at home. I&#8217;m also backing a slumping J.P. Crawford, who has the luxury of hitting atop a suddenly stacked Seattle [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":360390,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"sidebar_plugin_meta_block_field":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[452,60],"tags":[10],"class_list":["post-360405","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-com","category-mlb","tag-mlb-betting"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>MLB prop bets July 31: Picks, predictions &amp; odds | NorthStar Bets<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Check out our best MLB prop bets for July 31, 2025. 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