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Best MLB Player Props Today: Predictions for Marcell Ozuna, Elly De La Cruz on Thursday

Marcell Ozuna and Elly De La Cruz haven't been putting up crazy raw numbers recently, but they're in great spots today based on these two stats.

By Gage Bridgford

Elly De La Cruz hits a double
Elly De La Cruz hits a double / Katie Stratman-USA TODAY Sports
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We’re back to a double dose of hitting props for today’s eight-game MLB slate. There are a lot of strong pitchers around the league in action today, but there are still a few batters we can go after. The first is going to be going back to Marcell Ozuna of the Atlanta Braves, and the other will be Elly De La Cruz of the Cincinnati Reds.

Yesterday's results make three sweeps in a row, and we’re up 6.52 units during this stretch. Jurickson Profar and the San Diego Padres got the job done during the team’s fifth-inning scoring outburst. Freddy Peralta gave his best effort for the Milwaukee Brewers yesterday with seven innings of one-run baseball, but it wasn’t quite enough. Luckily for us, he still only allowed one walk on the day.

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MLB Best Bets Today

  • Marcell Ozuna O0.5 RBIs (+145) - .75 Units Bet365
  • Elly De La Cruz 3+ Total Bases (+190) - .75 FanDuel

Marcell Ozuna O0.5 RBIs (+145) Bet365

Ozuna has burned us twice this season, but I’m willing to go back to the well again in this matchup. Since the season started, Ozuna has been one of the best and most consistent hitters day after day. He, along with Shohei Ohtani and Kyle Tucker, are the only players with an OPS above 1.000. After featuring six players in the top 34 of OPS last season, Ozuna is the only Brave in the top 50 so far this year. Ozuna is also averaging 1 RBI per game this year, which is a mark that no other player can stake a claim to thus far.

The Chicago Cubs are sending Ben Brown to the mound for today’s game. Brown has done well so far during his rookie year, but he’s getting this Braves’ lineup at the wrong time. They got the bats going a bit yesterday, and Austin Riley is projected to return to the lineup today which pushes Ozuna back into the heart of the lineup and gives him more opportunities to drive in runs. I like backing Ozuna in this spot.

Elly De La Cruz 3+ Total Bases (+190) FanDuel

Our second play of the day is going to be on one of the brightest stars in baseball in De La Cruz. Elly has been an electric factory for Cincinnati this year, but he has hit a bit of a slump over the last week. He has just six hits over that stretch, and only two of them have gone for extra bases. However, he’s getting a great bounce-back spot today against a pitcher that he went 1-for-3 with a home run off of earlier this season.

That pitcher is none other than Matt Waldron. Waldron has been serviceable for the Padres this year, but he’s still left something to be desired on the bump. Particularly, he’s gotten hammered by lefties. While allowing righties to hit just .208 with a .575 OPS against him, lefties are tagging him for a .321 average with a .960 OPS. Just as Waldron has struggled against lefties, Elly has been miles better from the left side of the plate. Elly can get this done in just one or two swings today with ease.

Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.

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