Monday, June 19 MLB odds, trends: Red Sox' James Paxton, Padres' Fernando Tatis Jr. taking most player prop action on board

The San Diego Padres are starting to play to expectations thanks in large part to Fernando Tatis Jr. finding his groove at the plate. Tatis Jr. going yard is the most popular hitting prop so far at DraftKings on the Monday MLB schedule, while the most popular pitching prop is Boston's James Paxton Over 6.5 strikeouts at Minnesota.

Tatis Jr. is hitting .400 on the button this month with five homers, although he has gone four straight games without one. He is +425 to go deep Monday (Over 0.5 homers) against the Giants, San Diego's first visit of the season to its NL West rival. This season, Tatis is 4-for-10 with a homer off Giants pitching. The teams played two games in Mexico City from April 29-30.

Ryan Walker (2-0, 1.23) will serve as the Giants' opener tonight. The right-hander hasn't tossed more than 51 pitches in any outing this year. He likely will be followed by lefty Sean Manaea. Tatis hasn't faced Walker before and is 0-for-7 off Manaea.

Other popular Monday HR props (Over 0.5) from DK:

• Mets' Pete Alonso +370 at Astros
• Reds' Jonathan India +475 vs. Rockies
• Reds' Spencer Steer +450 vs. Rockies
• Cubs' Christopher Morel +550 at Pirates

On the pitching side, Paxton Over 6.5 strikeouts at the Twins is the most popular pitching prop. "Big Maple" has 44 strikeouts over 32 innings in his six starts after missing all of 2022 and totaling just 21.2 innings between 2020 and 2021. Paxton has struck out at least eight in three straight outings. The 34-year-old is averaging 96 mph on his fastball, the third-hardest among left-handed starters in the majors. Twins batters lead the majors with 742 combined strikeouts.

There are two popular props on Colorado lefty Austin Gomber tonight at red-hot Cincinnati: Over 2.5 earned runs (-155) and Under 15.5 outs (-120) are right behind Paxton in terms of betting action. Gomber has a 7.29 ERA on the season. It will be his eighth career outing (fourth start) against the Reds, having gone 1-0 with a 4.29 ERA (21.0 IP, 10 ER) in his previous seven. He last faced the Reds on May 17 at Coors Field, allowing five runs on eight hits over 4.1 innings.

Other popular Monday pitching props from DK:

• Blue Jays' Jose Berrios Over 4.5 strikeouts (-135) at Marlins
• Cardinals' Jack Flaherty Over 17.5 outs recorded (-130) vs. Rockies

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