The Yankees-Blue Jays rivalry does not get a lot of attention nationally, but it has heated in intensity over the last few years. Leading the way in that is Vladimir Guerrero Jr. ,who has a good matchup against Clarke Schmidt tonight. Gleyber Torres also has a good matchup against Yusei Kikuchi.
Heading to the West Coast, the Padres’ offense led the way in an 11-9 victory over the Rockies. Xander Bogaerts led the way with three hits and three runs scored. He will look to stay hot against Ryan Feltner.
Meanwhile, J.D. Martinez had a big night with two home runs against his former team. Will Martinez go deep in another Dodgers victory tonight?
MLB Player Props For Tuesday, September 19
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. says he would rather beat the Yankees than play for them and he proves it whenever he steps in the batter’s box against them. In his career, Guerrero is hitting .291 with 15 home runs, 48 runs batted in and a .881 OPS. One Yankees pitcher he particularly likes is Clarke Schmidt, against whom he is 2-for-5 with a home run.
Guerrero is coming off a big series against the Red Sox over the weekend. He had a hit in all three games, including two home runs, giving him 24 on the season. Guerrero enters tonight’s game riding a five-game hitting streak and he has a hit in 22 of his past 27 games as well.
Gleyber Torres enters tonight’s game with one more home run than Guerrero on the year. Over the last month, he is hitting .298 with seven home runs, 16 runs batted in and a 1.006 OPS. Torres has been a consistent presence in a Yankees' lineup this season.
He has been so consistent that his splits are fairly even — hitting .272 against right-handers, .267 against left-handers, and .271 in day and night games. However, Torres is 8-for-20 with a double, home run, three runs batted in and a 1.029 in his career against Yusei Kikuchi.
Torres has a hit in five of his last seven games and five of seven games against the Blue Jays this year.
While Torres has a larger sample size, both he and Guerrero are hitting .400 against the opposing starter. They should each get at least one hit tonight. However, a few times this season, both players in my hits combo have homered. It is +2328 for Guerrero Jr. and Torres to each hit a home run on DraftKings if you want to sprinkle on a lotto.
Pick: Vladimir Guerrero Jr./Gleyber Torres One Hit Parlay (+100 at DraftKings)
Xander Bogaerts has had an up-and-down season in his first year with the Padres. However, he is ending it on a high note. In September, he is hitting .458 with 17 runs scored, three home runs, six runs batted in and a 1.287 OPS. He hit this line with just hits in four of his last five games.
Bogaerts has not faced tonight's starter, Ryan Feltner, thus far in his career. However, Feltner has a 5.86 ERA overall, 5.40 ERA on the road and is allowing right-handed hitters to hit .254 against him. This will also be his first start since May 13, so he may be on a pitch count.
Bogaerts has fairly even splits as he is hitting .279 against both right- and left-handed pitchers, but he is hitting .294 at home. He also has hit 14 of his 18 home runs against right-handed pitchers this season. A home run tonight would cash this line with three hits + runs + runs batted in on one swing.
Bogaerts plays on a talented albeit inconsistent Padres team. Last night, he was in the leadoff spot with Ha-Seong Kim out of the lineup, batting in front of Juan Soto, Fernando Tatis Jr. and Manny Machado. That helped him score three runs. Typically, he bats behind them, which gives him the opportunity to drive them.
Either way, Bogaerts will be set up to clear this line, which he has done in 12 of his 15 past games. In that span, he is averaging 3.3 hits + runs + runs batted in. Tonight, we only need two from him.
Pick: Xander Bogaerts Over 1.5 Hits + Runs + RBI (-120 at DraftKings)
J.D. Martinez's career may not have begun in Detroit, but it was where he developed into the player that we know him as now. In the dark ages of the Astros rebuild, Martinez hit .251 with 24 home runs and a -2.3 WAR over three seasons. He joined Detroit in 2014 where hit .300 with 99 home runs, 285 runs batted in, a .912 OPS and 12.6 WAR in three and a half years.
Miguel Cabrera served as a mentor for Martinez in his development and the Dodgers honored Cabrera pre-game last night as part of his farewell tour. However, once the game started, Martinez was not very welcoming to his former team. He went 3-for-5 with two home runs and six runs batted in. In his career against the Tigers, Martinez is hitting .310 with six doubles, seven home runs and 25 home runs in 27 games.
With a three-hit performance last night, Martinez continued his hot September. This month, he is hitting .361 with a 1.039 OPS. The Tigers will use right-hander Miguel Diaz as an opener tonight. Typically batting fourth or fifth in the Dodgers lineup, Martinez may not face him if the Dodgers go 1-2-3 in the first inning. However, he does have a hit in his lone plate appearance against him in his career.
Martinez had 10 hits + runs + runs batted in and nine total bases last night. He has hit the combo in six of his last 10 games and he has recorded two total bases in five of his last 10 games. I expect both to hit, but given that his recent hit rates are similar, I am going for the better odds here.
I also like total bases for Martinez because I like him to hit another home run tonight. You can take Martinez to hit a home run at +360 on DraftKings.
Pick: J.D. Martinez Over 1.5 Total Bases (+130 at DraftKings)
