3 MLB Best-of-the-Board Props to Back for Dodgers-Brewers NLCS Game 1

The Dodgers and Brewers kick off the NLCS on Sunday night at American Family Field, and this is the kind of pitching matchup that makes you want to zoom in on individual at-bats instead of just picking a side. Tarik Skubal and Jacob Misiorowski are two of the nastiest arms left standing in October, which means contact is going to be harder to come by than usual for both lineups.

That’s exactly the kind of environment where the board gets interesting. We’ve got two Dodgers table-setters who get extra chances no matter how tough the pitching is, and we’ve got the sport’s biggest name trending in a direction that makes betting against him the smart play. Here are three props worth a look for Game 1.

Freddie Freeman Keeps Finding Barrels in October

Freeman enters the NLCS hitting .267 this postseason with 2 home runs, and he’s been arguably Los Angeles’ most dependable bat when the lights are brightest. During the regular season he racked up 32 doubles, a triple, and 70 RBI, proof that the bat speed and the eye for contact haven’t slowed down even as the calendar flips to mid-October.

The book has him at roughly -215 to record a hit, which sounds steep until you remember what Freeman’s track record in these spots actually looks like. He doesn’t chase, he controls the strike zone as well as almost anyone in the sport, and he’s shown zero signs of cooling off against elite postseason arms. Misiorowski’s stuff is electric, but Freeman has made a career out of squaring up velocity that blows hitters away.

Even against a pitcher priced among the toughest in baseball, betting against Freeman getting at least one hit in a Game 1 start has been a losing proposition most of this postseason. The juice is real, but so is the floor here.

Mookie Betts Sets the Table Before the Big Boppers

Betts is the Dodgers’ leadoff hitter, and that alone makes his over 0.5 hits prop (also around -215) one of the stickier numbers on the board. He hit .257/.326/.454 with 23 home runs and 69 RBI in the regular season, numbers that undersell just how often he’s on base setting up Freeman, Ohtani, and Will Smith behind him.

What makes Betts attractive here isn’t just volume, it’s approach. He’s one of the more disciplined hitters in the league at working counts and finding pitches he can drive the other way, and leadoff hitters in a best-of-seven series tend to see a few extra pitches as both managers play things cautiously early. Against a power arm like Misiorowski, that patience plays in his favor.

Betts getting on base is practically step one of the Dodgers’ entire offensive operation. Betting the table-setter to do his job feels like one of the safer plays on this slate, short price and all.

Fade Ohtani’s Power Right Now

This is the one that should grab your attention. Shohei Ohtani has not hit a home run since August 18, a drought that’s now stretched across roughly 98 plate appearances. Zoom in even further and it gets uglier: just 1 extra-base hit in his last 66 plate appearances. He went 2-for-13 in the NLDS with zero extra-base hits.

Now he’s walking into a matchup with one of the toughest righties alive. Misiorowski posted a 1.80 ERA with a .157 opponent average during the regular season, numbers that put him in Cy Young conversation territory. Ohtani’s bat speed is still elite, but the swing-and-miss has crept in, and a pitcher who misses bats at Misiorowski’s rate is precisely the wrong matchup for a hitter trying to break out of a prolonged power slump.

The under on 1.5 total bases for Ohtani lines up with everything the recent sample is telling us. This isn’t about doubting his talent, it’s about reading the form. Betting against a slumping superstar against an ace is exactly the kind of value spot the board tends to overlook when a famous name is involved. If you want to shop player prop lines before locking anything in, this is a good night to do it.

Lock These In

Pitching is going to dominate the headlines in this series opener, but that doesn’t mean the bats go quiet everywhere. Freeman and Betts both have a track record of getting on base regardless of who’s on the mound, while Ohtani’s recent power outage makes him a prime fade candidate against the best arm Milwaukee has to offer.

• Freddie Freeman OVER 0.5 Hits (around -215)
• Mookie Betts OVER 0.5 Hits (around -215)
• Shohei Ohtani UNDER 1.5 Total Bases (check your book)

Three very different reads on three very different hitters, but all three line up with what the numbers have actually been saying lately. For bettors deciding how to structure their wagers tonight, this trio covers both the safe floor and the sharp contrarian angle in one slate.