Friday night gets a busy weekend underway for Major League Baseball with 14 games under the lights. While there are a few weather spots to monitor, it looks like a mostly clear evening. While there are a few hitter-friendly parks in play, some exciting starting pitchers are also lined up to take the mound. Each pitcher has a variety of different starting pitcher prop bets to consider on DraftKings Sportsbook. After breaking down the matchups and current form, my top starting pitcher prop bets for Friday are from Zack Wheeler, Luis Gil and Brandon Pfaadt.
Every day of the season, DraftKings Sportsbook offers multiple ways to get in on the action with player props, moneylines and picks against the spread from each MLB contest. You can also pick series winners, award winners and team futures, so be sure to check out all the options available on the MLB page of DraftKings Sportsbook.
Best Starting Pitcher Prop Bets on DraftKings Sportsbook
Zack Wheeler over 7.5 strikeouts (-110)
Wheeler and the Phillies are in Washington to take on the Nationals in an NL East matchup. It’s one of the two early games on Friday’s schedule.
Wheeler has been outstanding this year, going 10-5 in 23 games and racking up 189 strikeouts in 144 2/3 innings. His 11.76 K/9 and 33.5% K% would be new career bests if he can maintain them through the end of the season.
He’s also averaging 8.2 strikeouts per outing, and in his last 10 starts, that number has increased to 8.8 strikeouts per game. He came in just under this strikeout line with seven punchouts in his most recent outing, which was in Texas. He went over the line, though, in eight of his previous nine starts, including each of his previous three games.
The Nationals have the sixth-highest strikeout rate in the majors over the last 30 days, averaging 8.8 strikeouts per game. Wheeler faced them twice this season, striking out eight in the first meeting and seven in the second round.
Based on Wheeler’s recent run and the Nationals’ recent strikeout rate, I expect the Phillies’ ace to get over this strikeout line as part of Friday’s starting pitcher prop bets.
Luis Gil over 15.5 outs recorded (+110)
I highlighted Gil in my DFS MLB bargains for the day, and I expect him to have a strong outing against the Cardinals. Gil was an impressive 15-7 in 29 starts last year, averaging 5.2 innings per start. He posted a 3.50 ERA, 4.14 FIP and 171 strikeouts in 151 2/3 innings.
Gil was sidelined through most of this season by a high-grade lat strain but worked his way back to the Yankees’ rotation earlier this month. He struggled in his first start of the season, getting only 10 outs and giving up five runs to Miami. He was much better in his most recent start last Saturday, getting 16 outs and allowing only two runs against the Astros.
Gil threw 91 pitches in that performance against Houston, totaling 60 strikes and giving up just one walk after walking four in his debut. He doesn’t seem to be under any significant limitation from a pitch count perspective, so I think he’ll be able to get into the sixth inning in this start against the Cardinals.
Houston is in first place in the AL West, so the Cardinals should be a much easier matchup. St. Louis just dropped two in a row to the Rockies and has scored the fewest runs in the majors since the All-Star break. Gil should be able to keep them in check on Friday, but since I don’t necessarily trust the bullpen or the lineup for the Yankees right now, I’ll take him on this outs recorded line instead of backing him to get the win.
Brandon Pfaadt to record a win (+120)
Pfaadt and the Diamondbacks are on the road in Colorado on Friday night. Even though the Rockies did take two games from the Cardinals, they lost Thursday’s opener to Arizona and have dropped to 32-89, the worst record in the majors by a wide margin.
Arizona has actually held its own, even after selling off pieces at the trade deadline. The Diamondbacks have won six of their last seven games and have a positive run differential on the season after scoring the second-most runs in the majors over the last two weeks.
Pfaadt has won four games in his last six starts, even though he has a 4.04 ERA and 3.73 FIP. He has pitched at least five innings in all but one of those starts, and the team has gotten him enough run support to get him to a 12-7 record in 24 starts this year. He has been more effective and earned more wins at home than on the road, but this matchup with the Rockies should be a good place to back him to get a victory at plus-money.
Since the offense is in such a good matchup against Tanner Gordon (learn more in my MLB Stacks), I expect Pfaadt to get plenty of run support in this contest. If he can get through five innings, he’ll have a good shot at a win, since the Diamondbacks’ bullpen has been resilient despite significant injury turmoil this season.
Pfaadt has done a good enough job limiting damage to back him to get the road win in this matchup against the Rockies. Although, I don’t love the under on any of his other individual props. I expect this be a high-scoring game, but Pfaadt and the Diamondbacks to come out with a victory.
