We have an all-day slate on tap Thursday, and we highlight four of our favorite PrizePicks selections from those contests below:
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Bryce Harper, PHI at CHC: More Than 0.5 Total Bases
Harper is off to a solid start over the first month of the season, as he comes into Thursday with a .261 average and .861 OPS across his first 100 plate appearances. The lefty swinging slugger has also impressively belted just under half (11) of his 23 hits for extra bases, leading to 45 total bases over his first 24 games.
Thursday, Harper is in a good position to add to that total, as he's facing a starter he's had plenty of success previously in the Cubs' Edward Cabrera. Harper owns a .400 average with three extra-base hits (out of four total) in 10 career encounters with Cabrera, who's given up a .333 average and .356 wOBA to the 32 left-handed batters he's faced this season.
Then, it's worth noting Cubs relievers have already given up 13 extra-base hits to left-handed hitters at home this season, keeping Harper's prospects strong even after Cabrera exits.
Jake McCarthy, COL vs. SDP: More Than 0.5 Hits
McCarthy has had a so-so start to the season but is in the lineup for Thursday's game. The 28-year-old outfielder comes in sporting a relatively uninspiring .222 average and .633 OPS, but he has an acceptable 18.9 percent strikeout rate and a solid 18.2 percent line-drive rate. Additionally, Thursday's matchup against Padres starter Matt Waldron could give McCarthy a bit of a reprieve, considering the right-hander's struggles in his first start of the season, the Coors Field setting and the fact Waldron has allowed a .267 average to lefty bats since the start of the 2024 season.
Waldron was touched up for six earned runs on eight hits over 3.2 innings to the Angels in his season debut Friday. He did record four strikeouts, but that's a bit of an anomaly considering he averaged below a strikeout per inning back in his last full season of 2024. Waldron has also always had some trouble keeping the ball in the park, and he's surrendered a .500 average to McCarthy in 11 career encounters while striking him out only once.
Shohei Ohtani, LAD at SFG: More Than 1.5 Hits + Runs + RBI
Ohtani pulled double duty Wednesday against the Giants but came up empty at the plate, going 0-for-4 to pull his average down to .258 and snapping a five-game hitting streak. Nevertheless, the prodigious slugger is a threat to wreak havoc anytime he's in the batter's box, and he's boasting an elevated .398 xwOBA and .533 xSLG, while also generating the second-highest barrel rate (23.1%) of his career, corroborating the fact he's putting plenty of good wood on the ball.
The four-time MVP will be in a good position to rack up some offensive production Thursday, even in a matchup against a talented right-hander in Logan Webb. Ohtani has often gotten the better of their encounters, producing a .364 average and 1.254 OPS in 27 career plate appearances against Webb, slugging five of his eight hits in the sample for extra bases. Webb has also pitched to more contact than usual to start the season, allowing more than a hit per inning (31 over 30 IP) and posting a 5.10 ERA and 1.40 WHIP across five starts.
Ohtania is averaging just under 2.1 hits + runs + RBI per game and has a career .806 OPS at Oracle Park, furthering his case.
Michael Soroka, ARI vs. CWS: More Than 16.5 Pitcher Outs
Soroka is finally healthy and pitching like it, as he's jumped out to a 4-0 record, 2.78 ERA, 1.06 WHIP and 11.1 K/9 across the 22.2 innings covering his first four trips to the mound as a member of the Diamondbacks. The now 28-year-old right-hander once looked like one of the brightest pitching prospects in the majors after a dynamic start to his career in Atlanta, but he ultimately missed all of the 2021 and 2022 seasons with injuries and has been on the comeback trail since.
With Soroka finally looking comfortable again, he makes for a very viable option against one of his old squads, the White Sox, which have a 25 percent strikeout rate against right-handed pitching on the road, as well as a .217 average and -7.1 wRAA versus that handedness overall. Soroka has frequently been overpowering and has at least 17 pitching outs in his last two starts, working up to 93 and 94 pitches in those outings.
Soroka also has a 1.59 ERA and 0.5 HR/9 in his first 17 innings at Chase Field, which furthers the prospects of him having a fairly long stint on the mound and cashing this prop.
