MLB Best Bets & Props: Expert picks for Sunday, July 9th

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Best Bets on Today’s 14-Game MLB Schedule

The 2023 MLB season is fully in swing and VSiN has you covered with every way you can possibly bet on a baseball game. Normally, Adam Burke will have daily best bets to give you some ideas of what to back when it comes to moneylines, run lines and totals, while I focus on feeding you all player props. However, Adam is off on Sundays, so I’m tackling everything before we get back to our regularly scheduled programming tomorrow. Keep reading to find out how I’m betting three of the games on the MLB schedule for Sunday, July 9th. 

 

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MORE: Check out our Pro Picks page for everything our experts have on July 9

Here are our favorite MLB prop bets for Sunday, July 9th: 

Chicago Cubs at New York Yankees (-140, 8.5)

Kyle Hendricks has never been the type of pitcher that goes out and racks up strikeouts, but his total for today is only 3.5. That’s a number he would have gone Over in each of his last two starts, and I have a hard time believing he’ll fail to reach the four-strikeout mark in today’s game. Hendricks is a big-game pitcher and will likely be amped up to be facing the Yankees in Yankee Stadium.

New York isn’t a team that has hit righties very hard this season, so this also isn’t the toughest matchup in the world. The Yankees are a middle-of-the-pack group when it comes to wRC+ against righties, and that means Hendricks should be able to find a way to navigate through this lineup. That’s really all that matters with a bet like this. If he pitches into the sixth or seventh inning, it’s going to be hard for him not to reach four strikeouts.

Bet: Hendricks Over 3.5 Strikeouts (-110)

Kansas City Royals at Cleveland Guardians (-240, 8)

The Royals have the lowest wRC+ in the league against right-handed pitching this year, and the team also has scored the third-fewest runs in baseball against righties. This is just not an offense that can be relied on to come through when facing right-handed pitchers, so I think this is a great spot for Shane Bieber to go out and perform at a high level for Cleveland.

Bieber actually just went out and dominated this Royals recently. The Guardians ace pitched 6.0 innings of shutout ball and struck out eight in a road start against them two starts ago. Now, he heads back to Cleveland, where he is generally a much better pitcher. With that in mind, I just don’t see him running into too much trouble with this lineup. That’s why I’m playing the Under on his earned run total.

Bet: Bieber Under 2.5 Earned Runs Allowed (-115)

Pittsburgh Pirates at Arizona Diamondbacks (-155, 9)

Bryan Reynolds is slumping coming into this meeting with the Diamondbacks, as the 28-year-old is batting just .138 since the start of July. This recent dry spell has really done a number on his season numbers, but I think it allows us to get a good price on him to go over his total bases prop. This is still one of the most dangerous hitters in the league, so getting him at plus-money odds in a good matchup is hard to go away from.

Reynolds has also had a lot of success against Zach Davies in his career. He’s 9 for 25 with a homer, three doubles and six RBIs against the righty. With that said, I think he’ll have a good deal of confidence that he can get back on track at the plate here.

Bet: Reynolds Over 1.5 Total Bases (+100)

Did you know that you can parlay these three picks together at +613 odds? Try out our VSiN Parlay Calculator HERE!

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