Wednesday was another night in the win column for the good guys, as our MLB picks finished up at 3-2. The strikeout props continue to make us some good coin, and we're firing away with 3 more of them on the Thursday slate.
The only shocker on yesterday's card was George Kirby giving up a ton of long balls. The Twins lineup has really came to life over the last couple of weeks. Anyway, let's get to the day baseball!
Isn't Slade one of the coolest names out there? It just sounds like a tough guy that you don't want to mess with! Cecconi has proven that he belongs in the big leagues, as his K-rate of 23.8% is respectable.
The 24-year-old righty shouldn't have any trouble racking up strikeouts against this Cincy lineup. The Reds have 4 players with K-rates above 28%! Will Benson, an outfielder for Cincinnati, has one of the highest strikeout rates in baseball at 41.1%.
Cecconi's median K number is just 4, but I adjusted that up quite a bit because of Cincy's uncanny ability to chase bad pitches out of the strike zone. Let's start the day off with a cup of coffee and an Over!
Here's another plus money prop that I'm quite fond of! Winn isn't a big-time power pitcher, but his splitter drops off the table when he's in a good groove. I also like his 88 mph slider.
While Winn's K-rate isn't that impressive (20.3%), I love that his Chase Rate ranks in the 92nd percentile. That means that Winn consistently gets hitters to swing at pitches out of the zone.
All of that tells me that Winn should get at least 5 strikeouts today, especially against this anemic Colorado offense. The Rockies have 4 players with K-rates over 26%. Let's ride another Over!
Stroman is a gamer that doesn't back down to any hitter. While that is respectable, he relies more on ground balls than strikeouts. Stroman's strikeout rate is just 21.7%, which puts him in the 45th percentile.
Sure, Houston let us down last night by striking out too much against Carlos Rodon. However, Rodon was really dialed in, so we have to tip our hat and move on.
I just don't see the Lastros striking out a lot on back-to-back days. They have 7 guys with K-rates below 17%. Give me the Under here!
This kind of piggy-backs off of our Slade bet above. Everyone is impressed by Hunter Greene and his 100 mph fastball, but I have Cecconi listed as the slightly better starter. Cecconi's expected batting average allowed is just .179, which says that big-league hitters haven't figured him out just yet.
Some other things to like about Slade are his impressive xERA of 2.34 and his insanely low walk rate of just 4.8%. Both of these offenses have been stinking up the joint against righties, but I still prefer Zona's lineup over Cincy's.
The Arizona bullpen is one of the worst in baseball, according to my numbers. The Cincy pen ranks a respectable 12th. Let's avoid that edge for the Reds by taking the First 5 with the D'Backs!
This worked out well last night, so I don't mind running it back again today. As bad as this San Fran offense is, they've found their groove of late.
It's amazing what a trip to Coors Field will do for a lineup's confidence (lol). Anyway, I like Keaton Winn a heck of a lot more than I do Cal Quantrill.
Neither have overpowering stuff, but Winn's ground ball rate is in the 95th percentile. I also prefer San Fran's bullpen quite a bit more than Colorado's. Let's ride the G-Men for the 2nd day in a row!
I have to admit that I went back and forth on this one. I love what Ronel Blanco has shown so far this year, and my ratings actually have him a few slots higher than Marcus Stroman. That being said, these two teams are heading in opposite directions.
The Yanks have put together a 5-game winning streak, while the Stros have lost 4 in a row. I know they say it's hard to sweep a good team, but is Houston really all that good this year?
My hope here is that Stroman can get through 5 innings without getting shelled. If he does that, the Yanks have a definitive edge with both their bats and their bullpen. Let's lay the moderate price here with the Pin Stripes!