MLB Today’s Best Bets for August 8: Home Run Picks & Top Player Props

Happy Saturday! Welcome back to my best MLB bets for August 8. I'm doubling down on a star pitcher before circling back to a pair of home run picks today! Let's dive into my top MLB player props for all of the action.

Best MLB Bets Today: Player Props for August 8

Chris Sale over 7.5 strikeouts at -139 on DraftKings Sportsbook is my top MLB bet today, and I'm double-dipping with over 17.5 pitching outs at -151.

Sale takes the ball for the Braves in the Bronx opposite Gerrit Cole. At 37 years old, he's carrying a 12-6 record with a 2.08 ERA and 143 strikeouts across 117 innings, which works out to right around 11 punchouts per nine.

Now the other half of the equation: the Yankees are lost at the plate. Entering Friday, New York had scored two runs or fewer in six of its previous seven games while hitting under .100 with runners in scoring position during the stretch. Friday brought no relief either. This is a team with zero signs of life right now.

Meanwhile, Sale obviously has a ton of stuff, and the Yankees have looked helpless against starters who do. Depending on the exact lineup, they'll likely run out four or five hitters carrying strikeout rates of 25% or higher.

That's why I like both of these Sale player props. He's in a great spot to put on a show in the Bronx against a struggling Yankees squad.

Best Bet: Chris Sale Over 7.5 Strikeouts DraftKings, -139

Best Bet: Chris Sale Over 17.5 Pitching Outs DraftKings, -151

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Home Run Picks Today: Phillies vs. Max Scherzer

Now, for my MLB home run picks today. I'm heading back to Philadelphia. I've been writing about Phillies lefties a lot lately, but the matchups keep being too good to pass up.

Max Scherzer gets the ball for Toronto at Citizens Bank Park, and his season line is ugly: 1-4 with a 7.92 ERA in a small sample size. He did come off a gem against the Cardinals, but left-handed hitters have brutalized him going back to last season, including a .615 slugging mark with six homers and four doubles in only 78 at-bats in 2026.

First, give me Kyle Schwarber to hit a home run. Schwarber owns a monstrous .280 ISO against right-handed pitching, and he's the exact archetype that has been punishing Scherzer.

Best Bet: Kyle Schwarber to Hit a Home Run DraftKings

MLB Home Run Predictions: Bryce Harper

Next, I'm going with Bryce Harper to go deep, and his ISO is even better than Schwarber's — a .321 ISO against righties.

The underlying profile on Scherzer backs this up. Last season, according to Baseball Savant, he ranked in just the 2nd percentile in both barrel rate and ground-ball rate allowed while surrendering a .545 slugging to lefties. Mad Max doesn't qualify this year, but nothing in his metrics has improved. He's still not keeping the ball down, and he's still giving up a heavy allotment of barrels.

Temperatures are projected to be around 90 degrees and humid in South Philly. That ball is going to fly off the bat.

Best Bet: Bryce Harper to Hit a Home Run DraftKings

Good luck, and let's cash some MLB best bets today!