2022 MLB hits leader odds: Dodgers' Trea Turner favored to win crown for third straight season

One reason the Los Angeles Dodgers might not get involved in the Juan Soto Trade Sweepstakes with the Nationals is that LA is going to have to pay a ton of money this offseason to keep All-Star shortstop Trea Turner, who was acquired from Washington last summer, who will reach free agency this offseason. Turner enters the second half of the MLB season Thursday – the Dodgers host the Giants – as the +250 favorite at Caesars Sportsbook to lead the majors in hits for a third straight season.

Turner's 111 hits so far this year are not enough to make him the leader; that ranks fourth behind Dodgers teammate Freddie Freeman (114), the Cardinals' Paul Goldschmidt (112) and the Red Sox's Rafael Devers (112). Last year while splitting time with the Dodgers and Nationals, Turner had 195 hits to win the MLB title by four over the Blue Jays' Bo Bichette, and in the shortened 2020 season with the Nats, Turner's 78 hits were one more than the Braves' Marcell Ozuna.

The last player to win at least three straight MLB hits titles was Hall of Famer Ichiro Suzuki in 2010, when he won a fifth in a row. He also holds the MLB single-season record of 262, and that very likely will never be broken. Turner is hitting .306 this season and entered the break on a seven-game hit streak (also had a hit in the All-Star Game, but that obviously doesn't count).

Turner has a hit in 76 of his 90 games this season while recording two hitting streaks of 20-plus games in his 129-game Dodger career. He has hit safely in 237 games since the start of the 2020 season, which is also an MLB best during that span by a fairly wide margin. Turner has seven three-hit games this year alone. He should be favored on this prop.

Devers and Freeman are both +300, with a big drop-off to Goldschmidt at +900 and then another drop to the Twins' Luis Arraez at +1600 – he leads the majors with a .338 average but is eighth in hits with 104 as Arraez has played 84 of the Twins' possible 94 games. Will any player get to 200 hits this year? The las two to do it was Kansas City's Whit Merrifield with 206 in 2019 and Devers with 201 that year.

One key in betting the MLB hits leader is banking on a healthy player – Turner has played more than 150 games just once. Freeman, meanwhile, has proven very durable in his career and played in 159 games as recently as last year. Devers also has been durable since the 2019 season. 

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