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There's plenty of excitement whenever the San Diego Padres and Los Angeles Dodgers square off, but Monday night's matchup has more buzz than usual. That's because Shohei Ohtani will be making his Dodgers pitching debut tonight, which will be his first time on the mound since the 2023 season. The two National League West rivals will face off in Los Angeles in the first battle of their four-game set at 10:10 p.m. ET on MLB Network.

If you're interested in MLB betting and want to check out the best bets for Padres-Dodgers or are interested in MLB player props at the top betting sites, check out the latest MLB odds and the SportsLine Projection Model's top plays.

Ohtani will be the Dodgers' opener on Monday night and will be expected to throw for only an inning or two in his return to the mound after suffering a UCL tear in Aug. 2023. FanDuel Sportsbook has Ohtani pitching props available despite his projected short outing, with his strikeout prop at 1.5 (Over -102, Under -130). FanDuel is also offering specials such as "Ohtani to go 3 Up 3 Down in the 1st inning" at +150 and Ohtani to record 4+ strikeouts at +600. 

The Padres will be countering with Dylan Cease, who is 2-5 with a 4.28 ERA so far this campaign. Cease picked up his second win of the season in his last start against these Dodgers on June 10, striking out 11 Los Angeles batters in seven innings and not allowing a single run. His strikeout prop for tonight's outing is at 6.5, with the Under a sizable favorite at -162.

Not only is Ohtani pitching, but he also has the shortest odds to go yard in Monday's game at +215. He's only left the yard in one game over the Dodgers' past 12 contests, smacking two home runs Saturday against the San Francisco Giants. Fernando Tatis Jr. and Manny Machado each have +330 odds to go deep, followed by Mookie Betts and Andy Pages at +400 apiece.

The Dodgers are -155 favorites (wager $155 to win $100) on the money line according to the latest SportsLine consensus odds, while the Padres are +129 (wager $100 to win $129) underdogs. The total resides at 9 after opening at 8.5. You can find the model's latest projections, along with expert picks for Padres-Dodgers, at SportsLine.

Here are the SportsLine model's projections for Monday's Padres-Dodgers game:

SAN DIEGO PADRES at LOS ANGELES DODGERS | 6/16 | 10:10 p.m. ET

Money line
Pick: Padres +129
San Diego wins in 43% of simulations, bringing value at these odds

Run line
Pick: Padres +1.5 (-156)
San Diego covers in 65% of simulations, bringing value at these odds

Over/Under
Pick: Under 9 (-115)
The Under hits in 48% of simulations

Projected score: Dodgers 4.7, Padres 4.4