ST PETERSBURG, FLORIDA - MAY 06: Shane McClanahan #18 of the Tampa Bay Rays delivers a pitch in the first inning against the Toronto Blue Jays at Tropicana Field on May 06, 2026 in St Petersburg, Florida. (Photo by Julio Aguilar/Getty Images)
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Friday nights are always momentous in MLB, and this week is no different. There are some intriguing series openers across the board, including a pair of interleague clashes that help inform a pair of our trio of props.
Without further ado, let’s dive into three bets worth considering for Friday’s matchups (odds listed are best at time of publishing):
Rutschman kept rolling in Thursday’s win over the Mariners, going 2-for-3 with three RBI, a walk and a run to push his season slash line to .273/.351/.497 across 208 plate appearances.
The 28-year-old already looks like a completely different player than during his career-worst 2025 campaign, and he appears to be fully over the hamstring injury that cost him the three games prior to Thursday. Rutschman is now averaging 2.4 hits + runs + RBI per game this season as well, and he has three multi-hit efforts in the last six games alone.
Rutschman draws a solid starting pitcher matchup with which to extend his hot streak Friday, as Padres hurler Griffin Canning comes into the outing with an 0-4 record, 6.34 ERA, 1.47 WHIP and 1.7 HR/9 across seven starts, per RotoWire. The veteran right-hander has been much better of late after back-to-back six-run outings on May 8 and 14, but Rutschman has tagged Canning for a .444 average with a double over nine career plate appearances.
The switch-hitting Rutschman has also done his best work against right-handed pitching at home, a split in which he sports a .313 average, .978 OPS and .419 wOBA. Meanwhile, Canning has been taken to task by the 22 lefty bats he’s faced on the road for a .450 average and .571 wOBA.
That’s an extension of a much longer trend, as Canning has allowed a .270 average, 1.50 WHIP, 1.5 HR/9 and .348 wOBA to left-handed hitters on the road over a much larger 606-batter career sample, per Fangraphs.
McClanahan missed all of both 2024 and 2025 due to multiple injuries, but the talented left-hander has incredibly looked like he hasn’t missed a step this season. The veteran southpaw has a 6-3 record, 2.85 ERA, 1.10 WHIP and 0.5 HR/9 across his first 12 starts, a sample that already includes five scoreless outings.
McClanahan’s pitch count has seemingly been managed, as he hasn’t thrown more than 90 pitches in any one outing yet. However, he’s still recorded at least 16 outs on three occasions, with all of those coming within his last seven trips to the mound. Then, McClanahan was extremely efficient two starts ag0 against the same Angels squad he’ll face Friday, needing just 70 pitches to record 15 outs.
McClanahan has landed right on 15 outs (five innings) on six occasions overall, so he’s essentially been knocking on the door of 16 outs or has been at least at that benchmark in nine of his 12 trips to the mound. The Angels could help him cash this Over on Friday, considering Los Angeles has a lowly .220 average, .279 wOBA and -4.4 wRAA against lefties at home in the last month.
Finally, there’s the matter of the track record of current Angels bats against McClanahan. Los Angeles hitters have a collective .200 average and .456 OPS across 47 career plate appearances versus the left-hander, managing just a single extra-base hit (a double) and striking out 13 times over that sample.
Kurtz is already one of the most feared hitters in baseball despite the fact he’s just 23 years old and has just recently completed about one full season’s worth of plate appearances at the major-league level. Following a 36-homer rookie campaign in which he also posted a .290 average and 1.002 OPS, Kurtz is on pace for a similarly successful or perhaps even bigger 2026.
Through 67 games and 306 plate appearances, the slugger has 28 extra-base hits, including 15 home runs, along with a .283 average and .967 OPS. Kurtz has impressively improved his plate discipline as well, boosting his walk rate a full eight percentage points from his rookie-season figure to 20.9%. Then, while his strikeout rate still has plenty of room for improvement, it has come down from 30.9% to 29.1%.
Per Baseball Savant, Kurtz holds a 90% percentile or better ranking in xSLG (.513), xwOBA (.397), barrel percentage (18.5), average exit velocity (94.4 mph), hard hit percentage (58.3%) and bat speed (78.1). He’s also accumulated 127 total bases, an average of 1.9 per game, while already posting 20 multi-hit efforts.
While the Rockies have yet to name a starting pitcher as of this writing, it’s almost irrelevant who Colorado might trot out. Kurtz is surging at the moment with a 1.066 OPS and 40 total bases over his last 17 games, and Friday’s game carries a massive 14-run projected total due to the fact it’s being played at the long-ball launchpad of Las Vegas Ballpark.
Kurtz has a .299 average and .455 wOBA at his usual home field of Sutter Health Park in Sacramento, which arguably isn’t quite as conducive to offense as is tonight’s venue. Moreover, it’s worth noting Rockies relievers have pitched to an MLB-high 6.95 ERA and .330 BAA against left-handed hitters over the last month, while also allowing a .402 wOBA in that split.
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