Shohei Ohtani Player Props, Picks for Opening Day: MLB Season Kicks Off With Sho-Time in Oakland

Check out our best Shohei Ohtani prop predictions for Thursday's Angels vs. Athletics matchup based on the top MLB odds.

Andrew Brennan

Last updated: March 30, 2023 3:53 PM EDT • 5 min read

Happy Opening Day! What better way to kick off the Major League Baseball season than with a little Sho-Time at night? Check out our Shohei Ohtani player prop picks based on the best MLB odds.

Following his Hollywood-worthy role in the conclusion of the World Baseball Classic, Shohei Ohtani will take the mound and look to mash some baseballs for the Los Angeles Angels on Opening Day.

For this player props piece, we're focusing on the pitching side, as Ohtani is set to begin a campaign that should further prove why he's one of the game's most elite starters.

Could this be the beginning of a Cy Young-caliber season?

Here are our best Shohei Ohtani player prop picks for the Angels vs. Oakland Athletics game on MLB's Opening Day (odds via DraftKings Sportsbook, BetMGM; pick confidence based on a 1-to-5-star scale).

Shohei Ohtani player props for Opening Day

Ohtani Over 6.5 strikeouts (-125 via BetMGM) ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Ohtani to record win (-105 via DraftKings) ⭐⭐⭐
First strikeout thrown: Ohtani (+320 via DraftKings) vs. Kyle Muller ⭐⭐⭐

Shohei Ohtani player props

Ohtani Over 6.5 strikeouts (-125 via BetMGM) ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Ohtani is one of baseball's most elite punchout artists, finishing second among qualified pitchers last season in both strikeouts per nine innings (11.87) and strikeout percentage (33.2%). He went over this total 18 times in 28 starts last year, with two of those coming against the Oakland Athletics.

The superstar right-hander is projected to throw 6.56 strikeouts on Thursday night, according to NumberFire. Yahoo's fantasy baseball projection model has him finishing with an even more impressive 7.2 punchouts.

At Caesars, the Over on this prop is listed at -139 compared to the -125 price found at both DraftKings and BetMGM. And even the -125 price comes with an implied odds percentage of just 55.56.

For the Athletics, their lineup features a who's who of "who?" Only one hitter in their projected Opening Day lineup had a wRC+ above 100 last season, and five of the nine had a strikeout percentage above 20 in the majors, with projected first baseman Ryan Noda making that six when you factor in his minor-league numbers.

Ohtani pitched 9 2/3 all-out innings for Japan during the WBC, so there shouldn't be much of a worry about his workload on Opening Day. As long as he goes five-plus innings, he should comfortably clear this number.

Ohtani to record win (-105 via DraftKings) ⭐⭐⭐

Each product featured on our website has been meticulously researched and selected by our team of experts. If you sign up through our links, we may get a commission.

Do I think this is the year the Angels finally put it all together and stop wasting the excellence that is Ohtani and Mike Trout? No, probably not. But do I think they can absolutely spank the lowly Athletics on Opening Day? Absolutely.

Ohtani has the third-greatest projected win total for Thursday's action at 0.48, behind only Blake Snell (0.50) and Max Fried (0.49), according to NumberFire.

The Angels ace opened the 2022 season with starts lasting only 4 2/3 and 3 2/3 innings, but players also had a much shorter spring training before the beginning of last year's campaign. Following those abbreviated outings, he went at least five innings in 24 of 26 starts. He won 15 of those 26.

Meanwhile, FanGraphs projects the Athletics to finish with the third-fewest wins this season at 71.

Caesars prices an Ohtani win at -111, which feels like a more appropriate price considering the Angels range from -215 to -225 moneyline favorites. Since I already believe Ohtani will manage to go five innings and have zero faith in A's starter Kyle Muller's ability to match his effectiveness, I'll gladly take DraftKings' more generous price for this prop.

First strikeout thrown: Ohtani (+320 via DraftKings) vs. Muller ⭐⭐⭐

Ohtani is the significant underdog in this showdown prop because he'll pitch second as the away starter. I don't care.

Muller has managed to strike out around nine batters per nine innings over nearly 50 career major-league innings. That's not a bad number, but he's also not known as a strikeout artist, and he's set to face a group of talented right-handed hitters to start his evening.

Of the Angels' projected first five hitters, only Ohtani himself pops out as the real threat to provide Muller with an early K. Anthony Rendon is somewhat of a reverse-splits guy, but he still owns only a 15.6% strikeout rate for his career.

NumberFire projects Muller to finish with 4.61 strikeouts over 5.72 innings, a far cry from his nine-per-nine career average.

At the end of the day, I'm sold on the price of this prop. Muller and the A's don't scare me, and +320 (which carries an implied probability of just 23.81%) is far too enticing to pass up.

Shohei Ohtani prop picks made 3/30/2023 at 12:00 a.m. ET.

Angels vs. Athletics odds

Here are our best MLB betting sites:

FanDuel: No Sweat First Bet Up to $1,000 | Read our FanDuel Review
Caesars: Earn Up to a $1,250 Bet Credit | Read our Caesars Review
DraftKings: Bet $5, Get $150 in Bonus Bets | Read our DraftKings Review
PointsBet: Earn Five Second-Chance Bets Up to $50 Each | Read our PointsBet Review
BetMGM: Get a Bonus Bet of Up to $1,000 | Read our BetMGM Review

(21+. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER)
* Bonuses not applicable in Ontario.

Best Online Sportsbooks | Best Sportsbook Promos (U.S. only)

Written By:
Andrew Brennan

Andrew Brennan is a publishing editor for Sportsbook Review. He also heads the website’s MLB coverage, from the various futures markets to daily picks. Andrew believes a math-based approach is the best way to enjoy long-term success in sports betting, and he’s spent the better part of the last year fine-tuning his own process for MLB, NBA, and NFL picks. Andrew uses eight different sportsbooks to find the best odds available and various projection models to gather as much information as he can. His most used sportsbooks are bet365, FanDuel, and theScore Bet. When it comes to daily projection models, he regularly references NumberFire across all sports, as it’s one of the best free tools available. In terms of which daily markets Andrew attacks, he almost exclusively bets on pitcher strikeouts for baseball. When the winter rolls around, you’ll see him providing more variety when it comes to the NBA (points, assists, rebounds) and NFL (almost any offensive-based player prop). He used these tools to go +150 units in 2023. Andrew is also a passionate fantasy sports player. He’s played fantasy football, fantasy Premier League, and fantasy baseball for the last decade. He graduated from Durham College with his diploma in journalism after earning his degree in law from Carleton University. He’s worked in sports media since early 2017, first contributing at FanSided before moving to theScore. He joined SBR in 2022.