It’s been a great week for Major League Baseball, and Wednesday wraps up many of the early week series with getaway games all afternoon. However, there are still seven solid matchups under the lights, so let’s dive into those games and grab some winning starting pitcher prop bets! My three top picks for Wednesday include plays from Kevin Gausman, Taijuan Walker, and Dustin May.
On Monday, my starting pitcher prop bets went a perfect three for three, so let’s keep the hot streak cooking this Wednesday.
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 as well, so be sure to check out all the options available on the MLB page of DraftKings Sportsbook.
Here is a look at my top starting pitcher prop bets for this Monday.
Best Starting Pitcher Prop Bets on DraftKings Sportsbook
Kevin Gausman under 17.5 outs recorded (+135)
Gausman has been a workhorse throughout his career for the Orioles, Giants, and Blue Jays. He has made 30+ starts in four straight seasons and usually goes deep into games, which is why the under his outs line is at plus money in Wednesday’s starting pitcher prop bets.
This season, though, Gausman is averaging 5 2/3 innings per start. He has finished under 18 outs in three of his last four starts. He has been knocked around for three runs or more in four of his last five starts. Gausman was excellent in a home start against the Guardians during that stretch, but was hammered by the Mariners, Rays, and Yankees.
Gausman has a favorable matchup against San Diego, since the Padres have only scored three runs in their last four games. The team has gone hitless with runners in scoring position in four straight games, but they could be in for some positive regression in a bounce-back performance against Gausman.
Since he has struggled and been under this number so often lately, I think he won’t last six full innings against San Diego, especially with a well-rested Jays’ bullpen waiting in the wings.
Starting Pitcher Race to 3 Strikeouts (Both Pitchers Must Start): Taijuan Walker over Carson Palmquist (-130)
Walker was my top bargain arm of the day in my MLB targets, as he returns to the rotation for this outing against the Rockies. In this quick-hitter, I’m taking him to beat Palmquist to three strikeouts in one of my top starting pitcher prop bets this Wednesday.
Walker has 31 strikeouts in 34 1/3 innings this season and finished with at least three strikeouts five of his eight games. He had at least four strikeouts in four of his six starts as well, although he only had two strikeouts in three innings in his most recent appearance out of the bullpen. He should be able to get to three strikeouts on Wednesday, since the Rockies have an MLB-high 31.1% strikeout rate over the last week and a 24.3% strikeout rate on the season.
Palmquist will have the home-field advantage of pitching first each inning, but he didn’t manage a single strikeout in his four innings of work against the Diamondbacks in his MLB debut. The soft-tossing lefty had a good strikeout rate in Triple-A, but it doesn’t look quite ready to translate to the MLB level yet.
With the better matchup and more proven track record, Walker should be a good pick to win this sprint to three striekouts on Wednesday.
Dustin May over 4.5 strikeouts (+125)
The Diamondbacks have done a good job at strikeout suppression this season, but getting May to reach five strikeouts at plus money seems like a little bit of an over-correction.
May hasn’t been dominant in his last few outings, but he has continued to find his way to strikeouts. He has at least five strikeouts in five of his last six starts. He went 0-3 in his last three games but had five strikeouts or more against the Braves, Dbacks, and Angels in those three outings. May actually went 6 2/3 in Arizona and have five strikeouts in a tough-luck loss last Saturday.
On the year, he’s averaging 5.1 strikeouts per start, and has reached over 4.5 strikeouts in three of his four home starts as well. Getting him to go over this mark on Wednesday is one of my top starting pitcher prop bets on the board.
