There are people out there who long for the olden days of baseball, where hitters put the ball in play more often and everyone bunted every other at-bat. Not this guy. I like seeing a never-ending conveyor belt of the nastiest pitchers imaginable. I like strikeouts. I like strikeout props.
With that in mind, here are my top three strikeout bets on DraftKings Sportsbook for Thursday’s evening MLB slate.
Top Strikeout Props on DraftKings Sportsbook
Chris Bassitt Under 5.5 Strikeouts (+100)
Part of this lean is the simple fact that Bassitt has been struggling lately, though with the Jays’ bullpen extremely taxed heading into tonight’s matchup with the Yankees, I’d think it’s safe to assume Bassitt will throw 100 pitches regardless of his effectiveness. Still, after racking up eye-popping strikeout totals early in 2025, Bassitt’s swing and miss tendencies have come back down to Earth. In fact, across his past 13 starts, the veteran RHP owns only a 19.4% strikeout rate. It’s a span where Bassitt has gone under this prop seven times. It’s not like he can’t hit the over. It’s also not like the Yankees are immune to whiffs. Still, at plus-money, this feels like the way to go in this spot.
Cade Horton Over 3.5 Strikeouts (-130)
Strikeouts were never an issue for Horton in the minors. In nine starts in 2024 across two levels, the former seventh-overall pick struck out 28.0% of the batters he faced. At Triple-A in 2025 prior to his call-up? The right-hander sat down 30.6% of the opponents he faced. However, that has not been the case in MLB. Over nine starts and 45.0 innings, Horton has managed only 33 strikeouts. In his past two outings, he’s failed to even register three strikeouts in a single game. So why do I like the over tonight? It all has to do with the Guardians. Across the past 30 days, Cleveland possesses baseball’s fifth-highest strikeout rate (24.8%) and it’s second-highest swinging strike rate (12.2%). That’s a whole lot of swing and miss. Look for Horton to take advantage.
David Peterson Under 4.5 Strikeouts (+115)
Guess I’m being a bit of a pessimist today. In a vacuum, David Peterson is a decent strikeout arm with some interesting upside. However, his matchup looms large on Thursday evening. While a pair of nine-strikeout performances from early April stand out in the lefty’s season-long game log, Peterson’s actually only managed an 18.5% strikeout rate across his last 12 starts. That’s just 57 strikeouts in 73.1 innings of work. If you’re expecting that ratio to get better against the Brewers, think again. Milwaukee simply does not strikeout. To wit, the team’s 15.3% strikeout rate over the past two weeks is the lowest mark in MLB. The Brewers also sport the NL’s lowest chase rate in that same span of time (28.4%).
