Happy Friday, fellow sports bettors! Thursday was so-so for us on the MLB side of things. We went 2-2 to run our record to 98-94 on the season. Our player props parlays split out at 1-1, and so did our game total plays.
We're sitting right at .500 this week at 6-6, so let's cash these two strikeout props parlays to get into the green. Best of luck, my friends!
BOS at NYY - 7:00 PM EDT and CHC at DET - 7:10 PM EDT
Will Warren has surprised the living heck out of me this season. The young righty has done a fabulous job of filling in for Gerrit Cole and Luis Gil, who both suffered tough luck injuries at the start of the year. Warren has tremendous stuff, and I love that the Red Sox have never faced him.
Warren is still learning how to pitch in the big leagues, according to his lack of command at times. Even still, his K-rate is one of the best in the American League (88th percentile). The 25-year-old doesn't throw overly hard, but he gets lots of swings and misses with his sinker and his sweeper.
Ben Brown is another young righty with a ton of upside. He gets hit hard at times, but there's no denying how sharp his stuff is. The 6'6" 25-year-old gets lots of extension, and that makes his 96-mph fastball look more like 98 or 99 to most hitters.
Brown draws a fantastic matchup, at least strikeout-wise, against the Tigers. Detroit has plenty of scary hitters, but they usually swing for the fences. The Motor City Kitties have the 3rd-highest K-rate in MLB against righties, so look for Brown to get us 5 Ks rather easily.
CHC at DET - 7:10 PM EDT and LAD at STL- 8:15 PM EDT
Skubal gets a tough matchup tonight at home against the Cubs, but I still can't resist putting him in a parlay. The price for him is rather juicy, but this kid has been the model of consistency for the past couple of years. The reigning AL Cy Young Award winner should work deep enough into this game to find us 6 punchouts.
The Cubs hit lefties well, but as we saw earlier this week against MacKenzie Gore, they can struggle against bona fide aces. Skubal has been pretty much unhittable since his lackluster start against the Dodgers to start the season. His K-rate is off the charts, and his chase rate is currently sitting in the 95th percentile thanks to his sinker and slider
I have a soft spot in my heart for Sonny Gray because he grew up just a few miles down the road from me in Smyrna, TN. The veteran righty is getting on up there in years, but you'd never know it by his performance on the mound.
Gray's curveball continues to be one of the best in the game and is a main reason why his chase rate is in the 78th percentile. Facing the mighty Dodgers is always scary, but they still have 5 players with whiff rates above 26.7% (Ohtani, T. Hernandez, E. Hernandez, Freeman, and Conforto). Gray should be able to rack up plenty of Ks tonight in Saint Louie!