We made it to Friday so it’s only fair we treat ourselves to some MLB action. Personally, I like to take a peak to see if the Chicago Cubs are playing at home on Fridays since they usually occupy the 2:20pm ET slot. There’s nothing wrong with a little afternoon delight while you wrap up your work week. Luckily for us, not only do they play at home today, MLB Network is carrying the game. That’s not all the MLB Network is doing for us today either. They’re giving us either the Braves/Mets or Marlins/Red Sox at 7:10pm ET depending on your market. That’s good enough for me, let’s get down on some MLB player props.
Don’t forget to check what our MLB analysts have backed with side and total picks for all 14 games today/tonight. As always, bets can be added to the card so why not follow me on Twitter in case we get some last-second action? It makes sense.
Vladimir Gutierrez over 4.5 strikeouts (+120)
Line available at DraftKings at time of publishing
Now I don’t condone cheating. With that being said, Gutierrez was suspended 80 games for PEDs last June. Keeping an open mind, that could be a positive here. This kid clearly wants it. If you’re willing to shoot yourself up with Stanozolol, then I’m willing to bet you over 4.5 strikeouts. Especially at plus money. But only after you serve your suspension of course. Rules are rules.
Other than really wanting it, we don’t know much about Cincinnati’s Gutierrez. He’s 25 and he can definitely be characterized as a “strikeout guy” as evidenced by his 31.3 percent strikeout rate in the minors this season. I know this isn’t the minors but 31.3 percent is 31.3 percent. That’s good.
He gets the Cubs today at Wrigley where the wind is blowing in from center at about 18 mph, which is a great start. On the season, only eight teams have struck out more than the Cubs. They’ve played fewer games than all of the teams ahead of them. Their last seven days have been better but a series against Pittsburgh Pirate pitching will do that. I think Gutierrez gets at least five Cubbies today.
This is one of my favorite MLB player props for today.
Be sure to check out our full game preview for Cincinnati Reds vs. Chicago Cubs
Casey Mize over 4.5 strikeouts (+125)
Line available at DraftKings at time of publishing
© Junfu Han via Imagn Content Services, LLC
This one is a good example of why you want to have a couple of different books at your disposal. At DraftKings, we’re getting +125 on this one and at BetMGM, they are offering -110. Obviously when this happens, we want the +125. It’s math. And a little science.
Mize has not been world beating but he has been solid in May. He’s gone six innings in every start of the month which is what we need. He can’t strike people out if he’s not in the game. Even though he has topped this number only twice in four starts this month, he did it last time out against the Royals. The Royals are not exactly an offense to target when looking for strikeouts as only three teams have struck out less than them this season.
Mize’s opponent tonight is the New York Yankees. They’ve struck out 13th-most in MLB this season and in the last seven days they are bottom ten. They are coming off a series against the Blue Jays in which Robbie Ray, Steven Matz and Alek Manoah got home on this number. If Mize can go five innings tonight, he should whiff at least five Yankees.
This is one of my favorite MLB player props of the night.
Be sure to check out our full game preview for New York Yankees vs. Detroit Tigers
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