The story of 2-1 days continues through this second August weekend, as it has happened again. Everything was rolling smoothly following the Guardians' Gavin Williams striking out just three Twins on Saturday, only to be derailed by Elly De La Cruz being unable to score a run. As a matter of fact, the Reds were shutout yesterday and were almost no hit by the Brewers. A bit of a saving grace was the correct "under" call on Jason Heywards' total bases for the day. I'm really ready to go 3-for-3 on picks as it's been far too long since the last one.
The story of 2-1 days continues through this second August weekend, as it has happened again. Everything was rolling smoothly following the Guardians' Gavin Williams striking out just three Twins on Saturday, only to be derailed by Elly De La Cruz being unable to score a run. As a matter of fact, the Reds were shutout yesterday and were almost no hit by the Brewers. A bit of a saving grace was the correct "under" call on Jason Heywards' total bases for the day. I'm really ready to go 3-for-3 on picks as it's been far too long since the last one.
Sunday’s Best PrizePicks Player Predictions
Current Overall Record: 56-36-3
Tanner Bibee More Than 5.5 Pitcher Strikeouts
We are flipping the script for Sunday's affair between Cleveland and Minnesota. On Saturday we made the right call going low on Gavin Williams' strikeout total, but his teammate Tanner Bibee is a different beast. Unlike Williams, Bibee is a true strikeout pitcher with some nasty stuff.
The 25-year-old currently sits in the top 25 in strikeouts across the MLB with 132, and he is averaging six punchouts per game amidst his second professional season. Bibee has also seen the Twins twice in 2024, and he has decimated them to the tune of two earned runs across 12 1/3 innings while he struck out nine and eight batters respectively across the two games.
It is a small sample size, but Bibee already seems to have the best of this division rival early on in his career. Twins' hitters are slashing just .173/.259/.288 against him overall. He has fantastic odds of adding to these already impressive numbers in Sunday's matinee showing.
James Wood More Than 7.0 Hitter Fantasy Score
James Wood has quickly become a blossoming star for the Nationals since his call-up in early July, as the rookie has done nothing but get better since his debut. Wood has quickly compiled a solid .268/.358/.438 slash line across 130 at-bats, including three triples, four homers, 25 RBIs, and six stolen bases.
The 21-year-old has heated up even more so in August, kicking off the month with an 11-for-32 (.343) start along with one triple and two homers. Wood has already proven he can handle Major League pitching, and on Sunday he will be facing off against some guy on the Angels named Jack Kochanowicz.
Kochanowicz has started two games this season, ultimately allowing 12 runs on 14 hits across just 7.0 innings pitched. That is what we call horrendous. Wood should have no problem accumulating counting stats on Sunday, in a great matchup at home.
JP Sears + Chris Bassitt Fewer Than 0.5 1st Inning Runs Allowed
The logic behind this pick is as fundamental as it sounds – the Blue Jays and Athletics will conclude their three-game series on Sunday afternoon and it should not be surprising that they are on the board as an "Under" here.
The first two games of this series have been true snoozefests, with game one concluding with a 3-1 score, and game two ending at 1-0. This is simply because both lineups here are underwhelming and underachieving. At least Oakland was expected to be bad in 2024, but Toronto and their 54-63 record has brought true shame to the country of Canada.
Coupling these facts with the notion that two of the best pitchers between these two teams will be on the hill Sunday, it feels likely that low-scoring will proceed through the end of the weekend. JP Sears and Chris Bassitt are both solid bets to be able to blank the opposition through the first three outs of the day, and that is all we need here.
