What an unusual Thursday slate we are treated to today. There are 16 games on tap, thanks to two rainouts yesterday, creating a couple of doubleheaders. It’s a shame we couldn’t get the Tigers and Pirates to cooperate on one of those doubleheaders to give us a Paul Skenes versus Tarik Skubal showdown. I guess we’ll just have to wait until the All-Star Game for that.
Here are three of my favorite MLB player predictions via PrizePicks for Thursday, June 19th.
Our PrizePicks Cheat Sheet helps bettors by comparing lines from PrizePicks vs. our daily MLB projections >>
What an unusual Thursday slate we are treated to today. There are 16 games on tap, thanks to two rainouts yesterday, creating a couple of doubleheaders. It’s a shame we couldn’t get the Tigers and Pirates to cooperate on one of those doubleheaders to give us a Paul Skenes versus Tarik Skubal showdown. I guess we’ll just have to wait until the All-Star Game for that.
Here are three of my favorite MLB player predictions via PrizePicks for Thursday, June 19th.
Our PrizePicks Cheat Sheet helps bettors by comparing lines from PrizePicks vs. our daily MLB projections >>
Thursday’s Best MLB PrizePicks Player Predictions
PrizePicks Record: 35-30-1
With how poorly the Yankees have performed at the dish, it’s only right to fade their ice-cold bats, albeit with a subpar pitcher. That said, five strikeouts isn’t asking for a whole lot. Tyler Anderson has struck out less than three batters in just three out of 14 starts this season and 10 out of 31 last season.
We’re getting a safe floor for at least four strikeouts. The Yankees have the second-worst wRC+ (37) and are ninth in strikeout rate (25%) over the past week.
Stop reading this if you’ve heard this before - we’re fading the Angels. It’s the same old story: They strike out a ton. They have the worst strikeout rate (28.8%) and third-worst wRC+ (68) against southpaws, too.
Carlos Rodon has been in a mini slide, but should get back on track here. He has recorded seven or more strikeouts in 10 out of 15 starts, ranking in the top 97th percentile in CSW% and 94th in strikeout rate among starting pitchers.
“But, but, but, he had 13 strikeouts last start.” – You, probably.
That was the Colorado rocky road special, though, and Spencer Strider was still sitting beneath the typical velocity we grew accustomed to. Without that velocity, the strikeout and whiff rates have declined tremendously against formidable lineups. Aside from the Rockies, Strider has failed to go for more than seven strikeouts in his five other starts (5, 4, 7, 4, 3).
Strider faces the Mets today, who have the seventh-lowest strikeout rate (20.2%) and fourth-best wRC+ (114) facing righties this season.
Make sure to check out our other best bets for Thursday:
Tyler is a featured writer at BettingPros. For more from him, follow @808Paperboi
