Underdog Fantasy MLB Picks - Best Picks & Plays for August 18: Manny Machado & Aaron Judge Have Great Matchups

There are five games in MLB tonight that start at 7 p.m. ET or later. One of the props that stand out is a strikeout prop for Padres pitcher Yu Darvish. Two other props are on Manny Machado and Aaron Judge. Always keep an eye on our weather center to see how things look closer to first pitch. If you want to add more MLB player props to increase your multiplier, check out our MLB daily projections and MLB Vegas odds to find the lines to exploit. Check out confirmed MLB lineups before you lock in any daily fantasy baseball lineups or MLB betting picks. Here are my MLB best bets and favorite MLB player props over at Underdog Fantasy for Thursday, August 18th.
MLB Player Props Underdog Fantasy August 18
Yu Darvish over 6.5 strikeouts
Darvish faced the Nationals in his last start on Saturday and struck out nine over six innings. Darvish has at least seven strikeouts in five of his last six games and seven of the last nine games. The Padres right-hander has a 25-percent strikeout rate and tends to go deep into games. He has pitched at least six innings in 15 consecutive starts. The Nationals haven't struck out a lot this season, but the strikeouts have increased over the last two weeks since Juan Soto and Josh Bell were traded.
Manny Machado over 1.5 total bases
Machado has been filling up the box score lately and is one of the hottest hitters in baseball. He has a nine-game hitting streak and has multiple hits in eight straight games. The Padres third baseman is batting .368 with a .1076 OPS in August. Machado gets a great matchup against Aníbal Sánchez and is 8-for-17 against him in his career. Right-handers have a .696 slugging percentage, .486 wOBA, and a 4.26 HR/9 against Sanchez this season.
Aaron Judge over 1.5 total bases
Aaron Judge gets a good matchup against a struggling José Berríos, who is having the worst season of his career. Berrios has a 5.61 ERA, 1.39 WHIP, and a 20.3 percent strikeout rate after being at least 25 percent in each of the last two seasons. Over his last two starts against the Guardians and Twins, he has allowed 13 earned runs, four home runs, and 14 hits over 7.2 innings. Judge is 3-for-8 against Berrios this season, including a home run. Berrios has allowed right-handers a .444 slugging percentage against him this season. Judge is slugging .674 with a 1.082 OPS against right-handers this season. Judge has cooled off lately, but he doubled last night.
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