All 30 Major League Baseball teams are in action on Friday night, with three early games before 7:00 p.m. ET and four games starting after 9:30 p.m. ET. With so much baseball to binge, let’s take a look at the 30 probable pitchers taking the mound and check out my top three strikeout props for Friday. My top three include plays from Jose Quintana, Tomoyuki Sugano and Will Warren.
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Here is a look at my top starting pitcher strikeout props for tonight.
Top Strikeout Props on DraftKings Sportsbook
Jose Quintana over 4.5 strikeouts (+115)
Quintana has been a surprisingly solid addition to the Brewers’ rotation, going 4-1 in five starts with a 2.38 ERA and 4.40 FIP. He has totaled 21 strikeouts in 28 2/3 innings for a 6.6 K/9.
He has six strikeouts in each of his last two starts, which were against the Cardinals and the Cubs, who are tougher matchups than the Rays, especially against lefties. Quintana seems to be settling into a nice groove, and the fact that we get plus-money with him just needing five strikeouts is a little surprising.
The Rays have struggled against lefties this season and often totally switch out their lineup based on the split. On the year, they have a 22.6% strikeout rate against lefties, but are only hitting .197 against southpaws with a .090 ISO and .262 wOBA. Even though the strikeout rate isn’t astronomical, their struggles overall should let Quintana pitch deeper into the game and get over this strikeout prop.
Tomoyuki Sugano 5+ strikeouts (+130)
Sugano and the Orioles will try to stop a four-game slide on the road in Anaheim on Friday night, and there are multiple ways you can back Sugano in this matchup. I like him to get over 16.5 outs recorded (-115), but this alternate strikeout line is especially juicy.
I highlighted Sugano as my top value starting pitcher pick of the day, and he makes sense to include here, as well, in one of my top strikeout prop bets of the evening.
In his seven games, Sugano has gone 3-2 with a 3.00 ERA, but a 5.13 FIP, since he doesn’t typically strike out a ton of batters. He has shown a little more punchout potential lately, though, with eight strikeouts against the Yankees and four strikeouts against the Royals in his last two outings.
While there isn’t a ton of juice in his over 3.5 strikeout line at -170, if he gets just one more strikeout the odds jump to +130, which is why I’m targeting the alternate line. The straight over is a safer play if you’re building SGP or combining multiple strikeout props into a giant parlay.
The Angels are a great matchup for him to get at least five strikeouts since they have the highest strikeout rate in Major League Baseball over the last two weeks at 28.9%. In their last six games, they have been even worse, averaging 11.2 strikeouts per contest.
Starting Pitcher Race to 3 Strikeouts: Will Warren over Osvaldo Bido (-105)
In the last game of the night, the Athletics and Yankees meet in Sacramento. Even though he has to overcome the disadvantage of being the road pitcher, I like Warren to beat Bido to three strikeouts for the last of my three strikeout props on Friday.
Warren has 34 strikeouts in 28 2/3 innings, while Bido has only 21 strikeouts in 36 1/3 innings. That gives Warren an advantage of 10.7 K/9 to Bido’s 5.2 K/9. The Yankees do have a higher strikeout rate as a team than the Athletics, but Bido’s microscopic whiff rate will be difficult for him to overcome.
Warren should be able to make up ground and secure the win in this quick-hitter. Bido hasn’t even gotten to three strikeouts in three of his last four starts, including a pair of matchups against the White Sox.
