We’re very excited, as are many baseball fans, by the idea that the greatest rivalry – perhaps in all of professional sports – is taking place on Wednesday night at Yankee Stadium.

Are we exaggerating? Probably not, if you take a look at all the rivalries between two teams. The New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox don’t like each other; their fans don’t like each other, and their TV announcing teams don’t like each other either.

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It has become better as the Red Sox have won World Series titles in recent years. Forever, it seems, the championship ledger was heavily biased toward one side.

And now, with a Red Sox slide and a Yankee surge, the teams are tied for a wild card spot in the American League. If it wasn’t for those Tampa Bay Rays…

Do yourself a favor and cash in with these five MLB props for Wednesday, including one involving one of Boston’s best players.

MLB Player Props Predictions for August 18th

Red Sox vs. Yankees Picks

XANDER BOGAERTS (Boston Red Sox) OVER 1.5 TOTAL BASES (+115)

Opponent: NEW YORK YANKEES (starter – Andrew Heaney)

Time: 7:05 PM ET

Yes, we’ll look for Bogaerts’ good fortune against Andrew Heaney to continue. He is 7-for-13 lifetime against him, with two doubles and a homer.

The Aruban star is hitting a crisp .364 over his last nine games, so he doesn’t have to jump back into form to make this happen.

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Athletics vs. White Sox Picks

MARK CANHA (Oakland Athletics) OVER 0.5 HITS (-200)

Opponent: CHICAGO WHITE SOX (Lance Lynn)

Time: 8:10 PM ET

Canha’s often had some pop in the bat (26 homers a couple of seasons ago), and he also gets popped a lot as well (hit by pitches a league-leading 22 times), and he has always been a tough out for Chicago’s All-Star hurler Lance Lynn.

In fact, Canha has had seven hits in 15 official at bats, so he has a batting average of .467 and an on base of .529.

What gives us a little pause is that he’s hit just .184 in his last nine games. And he just ended a home run drought that lasted for 40 games. But we’re pulling the trigger anyway.

Brewers vs. Cardinals Picks

TAYLOR O’NEILL (St. Louis Cardinals) UNDER 0.5 HITS (+110)

Opponent: MILWAUKEE BREWERS (starter – Freddy Peralta)

Time: 7:45 PM ET

So how did we do with Taylor O’Neill yesterday? Not too bad, huh? Four at bats, three strikeouts, and hitless.

So let’s take a look at his running totals: he’s had two hits in his last 27 at bats, and has fanned 16 times. He’s not on a hot streak, yet we see an inviting number.

And how are his chances of breaking out of a slump against Milwaukee’s Freddy Peralta? Well, we would admit it’s not a big sample. But O’Neill is 0-for-6 for his career against him. So we see some value.

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Orioles vs. Rays Picks

NELSON CRUZ (Tampa Bay Rays) OVER 1.5 TOTAL BASES (+105)

Opponent: BALTIMORE ORIOLES (starter – Spenser Watkins)

Time: 7:10 PM ET

Spenser Watkins has allowed five homers in 36 innings of work this season. That’s not a tragic number, but three of the homers he has given up have been in his last two starts, which have covered ten innings.

In his August 7 outing against the Rays he gave up round-trippers to Yandy Diaz and Nelson Cruz, but it’s another guy we want to focus on.

Mike Zunino is averaging a home run every 9.5 at bats, and it includes one in each of his last five games. In case you’re wondering, the record is eight, held jointly by Ken Griffey Jr., Don Mattingly and Dale Long, who briefly played as a left-handed catcher in 1958.

Over this latest nine-game stretch, Zunino is batting .387 (12 for 31), and he has hit safely in each of those contests. So there is more than one way to go here.

But alas, if sportsbooks are going to have something to offer up on Zunino, we haven’t seen it yet.

Instead, we take a shot with the aforementioned Cruz, who’s had four two-hit games in the last ten, along with five homers.

And he’s two-for-three with a homer against Watkins.

Mariners vs. Rangers Picks

MITCH HANIGER (Seattle Mariners) UNDER 0.5 HITS (+200)

Opponent: TEXAS RANGERS (starter – Mark Foltynewicz)

Time: 8:05 PM ET

The outfielder from Silicon Valley has relied a lot more on power than he has, well, precision, although 26 homers this season is nothing to sneeze at.

Haniger has one homer in the last 21 games, but that’s kind of irrelevant here. The fact is, he has been completely ineffective against Foltynewicz, gathering just two hits in 20 at bats with seven strikeouts. So these are pretty decent odds for us to work with.