After a pause for the All-Star break, Major League Baseball has plunged into the ceremonial second half with a huge weekend of fun matchups. After a busy early afternoon, there are three games that start around 4:00 p.m. ET, along with the Sunday Night Baseball matchup still on the board. From the eight probable pitchers in those matchups, DraftKings Sportsbook has some very solid starting pitcher prop bets to consider. After taking a look at the matchups, lines and odds available, my top starting pitcher prop bets for Sunday’s later games include plays from Hunter Brown, Miles Mikolas and Tarik Skubal.
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Best Starting Pitcher Prop Bets on DraftKings Sportsbook
Hunter Brown over 7.5 strikeouts (+120)
Brown struggled in his last two starts before the break, and he’ll get a tough matchup against the streaking Seattle Mariners on Sunday afternoon. However, I’m including taking advantage of this spot to target the over on his strikeout line at plus-odds in Sunday’s starting pitcher prop bets.
Brown has 137 strikeouts in 115 innings this season with a 31.1% K%. He has averaged 7.2 strikeouts per outing on the year and gone over this strikeout line in three of his last four games and five of his last seven.
Just before the break, he did get roughed up in back-to-back starts, allowing 10 runs in 11 innings against the Guardians and Rangers. He had eight strikeouts in just five innings despite his struggles in his last outing, and he’ll look to help the Astros avoid a sweep on Sunday by shutting down the Mariners.
The M’s rank fourth in the majors with 865 strikeouts this season, and they have a top-10 K% overall in the majors this season and so far in July. They have averaged 9.0 strikeouts per game this month, and Brown should be able to get over this strikeout line in this matchup on Sunday since I expect him to bounce back after the extended rest of the All-Star break.
Miles Mikolas over 5.5 hits allowed (-120)
Mikolas and the Cardinals are in Arizona this afternoon, and the Dbacks have looked excellent coming out of the break, scoring 17 runs on 24 hits in the first two games of the series.
Mikolas typically pitches to plenty of contact, and he has allowed an average of exactly 5.5 hits per game on the season. He gave up over 5.5 hits in six of his last eight games, including the game he gave up 10 hits to the Cubs (including six home runs) on the Fourth of July.
Lefties on the road have hit .409 against Mikolas this season, so look for the Dbacks to stack up their lefties in this matchup Sunday.
Slugger Eugenio Suarez has a good history against Mikolas, and he is in my top home run props for the day. I think he’ll lead the way as the Snakes’ hit parade roles on against Mikolas on Sunday.
Starting Pitcher Race to 3 Strikeouts (Both Pitchers Must Start): Tarik Skubal over Jacob Latz (-140)
On Sunday Night Baseball, the starting pitching matchup had huge potential with Skubal taking on Nathan Eovaldi. However, Eovaldi had to be scratched with a back issue and lefty Jacob Latz will step into his spot.
Latz will have the home-field advantage of pitching first in each inning, and the relief pitcher has 48 strikeouts in his 48 innings this season. He has a 24.5% strikeout rate on the season, and he did rack up six strikeouts in his 3 1/3 innings in his last appearance out of the bullpen. In the previous game, though, he had just one strikeout in three innings against the Padres.
Despite some success, though, Latz is no match for Skubal, who has 153 strikeouts in 121 innings this season. He has a 33.4% K% and will look to serve as the stopper for his Tigers after the team has lost six straight, including the first two games in this series.
You are paying a little bit for the big name, but this is a good way to get a quick-hitter win on Skubal, especially since Latz may not stick around very long in what is basically a spot start at the front end of a bullpen game.
