Here are my favorite DraftKings Sportsbook picks for Wednesday’s slate of MLB games.
Follow along on Twitter (@Nick_Friar) for updates.
All odds provided by DraftKings Sportsbook and all odds subject to change.
St. Louis Cardinals at Cincinnati Reds
Cardinals -1.5 -135
Jose Quintana bounced back in his last outing after getting roughed up in the performance prior. However, his outing vs. Atlanta was the first Quintana start the Cardinals have lost since acquiring the left-hander. More importantly, three of the four St. Louis wins in Quintana starts have been by multiple runs.
The Cards come into Wednesday’s contest fresh off a four-run loss against this same Red team, which puts St. Louis in a good spot. The Cardinals are 34-20 straight-up after a loss this season. Against the run line, they’re 36-18 after a loss.
The Reds are 61-67 against the run line overall this year. They’re a bit better as home dogs, but 21-21 gives them the 11th-worst success rate in the league within the split. Plus, both marks look much worse with Mike Minor taking the mound.
The Cincy left-hander dealt in his last outing, but that performance merely brought his August ERA and FIP down to 5.72 and 4.32, respectively. The Reds are only 3-12 in his starts this season, and 10 of those losses were by multiple runs. That outcome is likely to happen again on Wednesday with the Cardinals being one of the best lineups against left-handed pitching (.260 ISO in August) and the Reds only boasting a .149 ISO against lefties this month.
Paul Goldschmidt over 1.5 total bases -125
Goldschmidt against any left-handed pitcher is an appealing play. This month, he’s got a .313 average and .406 ISO against lefties. That’s been the result of a 45.8% fly-ball rate and 41.7% hard-contact rate.
Plus, Minor might be one of his best matchups. Goldschmidt has only seen the left-hander 15 times, but he has eight hits against Minor. Four of those have been for extra bases, three of which have been home runs. Across his five August starts, right-handed hitters have laced eight doubles and three home runs off of Minor.
If you like the Cardinals to win on Wednesday but want to stay away from the run line, pairing a St. Louis win with Goldschmidt over 1.5 total bases via DraftKings Sportsbook’s Same Game Parlay function provides +140 odds.
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New York Yankees at Los Angeles Angels
Gerrit Cole over 8.5 strikeouts -110
Cole has only gone over this number 11 times in his 26 starts this season. He’s also only 4-for-12 at going over this number on the road. But, before striking out 11 vs. Oakland in his last start, Cole had punched out 10-plus hitters on six occasions this season. Four of those occurrences came in back-to-back outings, and a separate double-digit-strikeout performance was followed up by a nine-strikeout outing.
Moreover, his Wednesday night opponent has been very strikeout-happy. The Angels have a 26.6% strikeout rate against right-handed pitching month, which is the second-highest mark in baseball. That number looks even worse when zeroing in on just the second half of August (27.5%).
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I am a promoter at DraftKings and am also an avid fan and user (my username is dk-nfriar) and may sometimes play on my personal account in the games that I offer advice on. Although I have expressed my personal view on the games and strategies above, they do not necessarily reflect the view(s) of DraftKings and do not constitute a representation that any particular strategy will guarantee success. All customers should use their own skill and judgment in building lineups. I may also deploy different players and strategies than what I recommend above. I am not an employee of DraftKings and do not have access to any non-public information.
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