Welcome back to another edition of our top MLB PrizePicks player predictions! Jose Soriano has been inconsistent striking out opposing batters this season. How will he fare against the Cleveland Guardians? Will Slade Cecconi strike out more than three batters for the second time in three starts when he faces the San Diego Padres? And will Mike Yastrzemski's bat stay hot against Aaron Nola and the Philadelphia Phillies?
Here are the best MLB PrizePicks plays for Friday, May 3rd's games.
Our PrizePicks Cheat Sheet helps bettors by comparing lines from PrizePicks vs. our daily MLB projections >>
Welcome back to another edition of our top MLB PrizePicks player predictions! Jose Soriano has been inconsistent striking out opposing batters this season. How will he fare against the Cleveland Guardians? Will Slade Cecconi strike out more than three batters for the second time in three starts when he faces the San Diego Padres? And will Mike Yastrzemski's bat stay hot against Aaron Nola and the Philadelphia Phillies?
Here are the best MLB PrizePicks plays for Friday, May 3rd's games.
Our PrizePicks Cheat Sheet helps bettors by comparing lines from PrizePicks vs. our daily MLB projections >>
Friday’s Best MLB PrizePicks Player Predictions
This Season: 24-17-1
Jose Soriano has struck out 23 batters in six appearances this season. He has three outings of six or more strikeouts and three outings of two or fewer. The two teams he's had success against are the Tampa Bay Rays and Cincinnati Reds, who each rank in the top seven in the league in total strikeouts.
But tonight, Soriano won't be facing a strikeout-prone team, which is why he's not going to hit the over. The Guardians have struck out the fifth-fewest times this season. Soriano has failed to pitch at least 5.0 innings in four of his six starts. The Guardians could chase Soriano and keep him under this number, but even if they don't chase him early, they'll make enough contact to keep him at four or fewer strikeouts.
Slade Cecconi has only pitched two games this season. He's gone 6.0 innings in each of his starts, but his strikeout numbers are not similar. In his first start, he struck out just three San Francisco Giants. In his second, he faced the most strikeout-prone team in the MLB and struck out eight.
Cecconi faces the Padres tonight. They have struck out just 255 times in 34 games. They have one of the best strikeouts-per-game stats in the entire league. Against a pitcher like Cecconi, it's unlikely the Padres will struggle to do what they've been doing well all season. Even if Cecconi pitches 6.0 innings again, he will go under this number.
Mike Yastrzemski has great numbers against Phillies starting pitcher Aaron Nola, which is why we're taking the more than tonight. He's 3-for-7 against Nola in his career. Two of his hits went for extra bases - a home run and a double.
Yastrzemski has hit safely in consecutive games and in three of his last four. After a terrible start to the season, he's worked his batting average from .121 on April 17th to .242 entering today's game. With a matchup he likes and a hot bat, Yastrzemski will record at least a single tonight.
Make sure to check out our other best bets for Friday:
Phil Wood is a featured writer at BettingPros. For more from Phil, check out his archive and follow him @Phil_Wood_Jr.
