Thursday MLB Strikeout Props: After 3-0 Wednesday, Krothers picks Jacob deGrom, Adam Wainwright, Merrill Kelly

I mentioned the need to look into Japanese baseballs yesterday and Yahoo wrote a great article today exactly about that subject. The new bit of info in there for me is that MLB did do a test in 2016 in the Arizona Fall League – which is great to hear. Apparently MLB, KBO, and NPB have been talking about baseballs for a while – so let’s hope they come up with something that is good for both pitchers and hitters this offseason. Interesting to note that they are using NPB-like balls in the Olympics this year – I hope someone will be looking at the spin rate.

Had a great 3-0 night yesterday – let’s see if we can keep it rolling today.

On to the strikeout picks…

Mets @ Braves, 7:20 pm ET

Gotta examine the lines every time Mets’ ace Jacob deGrom is on the mound. My projections have him getting 11-12 strikeouts against this Atlanta lineup, so I’ll take the juicy +120 for the over 9.5 offered up by FanDuel.

Cardinals @ Rockies, 8:40 pm ET

Adam Wainwright is starting for the Cardinals tonight and I’d normally project him for an 8-9 K night – if this wasn’t a game in Colorado. Given it’s in that thin air, I’ll knock him down to 6-7 strikeouts. Luckily for us, DraftKings is paying out at +125 for over 5.5 – I’m scooping that up.

Giants @ Diamondbacks, 9:40 pm ET

Well, I didn’t want to go with 3 overs today, but it looks like it’s going to be that way. Merrill Kelly starts for the Diamondbacks and my K-Predictor™ says he should be getting 6-7 strikeouts tonight – and who am I to argue with the machine that gave me a 3-0 night? FanDuel is offering +128 on over 5.5 and it looks good to me.

Come back again — same bat-channel — Batman out!