Gross Bombs: NFL Props for Week 16
Josh Gross
Opening Day has come and gone, but Overreaction SZN is just beginning. Early in the season is a great time to invest in hitters and pitchers off to slow starts who we are bullish on long-term.
With Prediction Strike, we can buy and sell players stocks much like the actual stock market, and in doing so we are able to create portfolios. However, unlike DFS or sports betting, these can also be long-term investments. Considering that long-term angle, we can take advantage of some of the things unique to baseball, such as players changing teams at an incredibly high rate over the offseason and hundreds of exciting prospects, some of whom may even make big impacts in the MLB this season. But with the increased size of MLB rosters and players who receive regular playing time, we get increased opportunities to find some overlooked diamonds in the rough.
Here are a couple of names to consider over at Prediction Strike.
Prediction Strike Pick: Corbin Carroll, Arizona Diamondbacks
The dominant favorite for NL Rookie of the Year, outfielder Corbin Carroll might just be the fastest player in baseball. He’s a former No. 1 prospect and will play a valuable role in a budding Diamondbacks offense. He hit 24 homers and swiped 31 stolen bases in 442 minor league plate appearances last year and could surprise with a 20/30 season right off the bat. His Prediction Strike price has unsurprisingly increased 33% over the past month (currently $1.46) and should grow massively over the coming months. Perhaps the marketplace overreacts to Carroll hitting seventh on Opening Day Thursday night. But it should be noted that Carroll is a lefty, facing an All-Star lefty pitcher (Dodger Julio Urías) and that we likely won’t see Carroll in the bottom-third of the lineup often. If he gets off to a slow start, this weekend, even better. The sky is the limit for the 22-year-old rookie.
Prediction Strike Pick: Juan Soto, San Diego Padres
Juan Soto might just be baseball’s best pure hitter. He is certainly the most patient. Since entering the league in 2018, no hitter has a higher walk rate than his 19%. He is also just one of three qualified hitters over the last five years with a walk-to-strikeout ratio over 1.00 (Alex Bregman and Luis Arraez are the other two). Soto’s $4.04 price on Prediction Strike has plenty of room to explode. It’s gone up only 4.7% over the past month – a rate that has been kept at bay because of calf and oblique injuries he was dealing with during spring training. Soto is healthy now and good to go for the start of the season. He will hit second, ahead of Manny Machado and Xander Bogaerts, in one of baseball’s most potent offenses. We should once again expect Soto to lead the league in walks, hit 30+ homers, flirt with a .300 batting average and compete for the NL lead in runs scored. Strike while the iron’s hot with one of baseball’s top bats.
