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Today, we will look at the Athletics at Red Sox
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Athletics @ Red Sox
More or Less Contest
Nathan Eovaldi less than 6.5 strikeouts and Chris Bassitt more than 5.5 strikeouts
I will not be duped by Nathan Eovaldi again! I have to tell myself this every time he starts as I have been burned a couple of times, but not tonight! He is facing an Athletics team that is striking out 23.7% vs. right-handers over the previous 10 days, which is not incredibly high, but also not great either. Eovaldi, however, has only managed to go over this total in two of his starts this season and has failed to reach it in each of his previous three starts. Oakland also has a 14.1% walk rate vs. righties over the previous 10 days, which is ranked second-best in baseball over that span behind only the Yankees.
Chris Bassitt has been a monster in his previous four starts as he has 32 strikeouts across 25 innings pitched and has gone over this total in each of those four games. He will be facing a Red Sox team that has been up and down in terms of strikeout rate against right-handers, so they are a bit tough to figure out. Over the previous 10 days, they have a K rate of 20.6%, but this should be high enough for Bassitt to get six given the way he has been pitching lately. I also like the fact that there is less foul territory in Boston, so foul pop-ups in two-strike counts are less likely to stay in play here.
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Phillies @ Nationals
More or Less Contest
Chase Anderson less than 4.5 strikeouts and Erick Fedde more than 3.5 strikeouts
Chase Anderson has a tough matchup vs. a Nationals team that is only striking out at a rate of 19.8% vs. right-handers over the previous 10 days, which ranks them eighth-best in baseball. Anderson has never been a high strikeout pitcher and this is further evidenced by the fact that he has only reached five strikeouts twice in his six starts, and once was against the free-swinging Giants. The Nationals now have Juan Soto back in the lineup, which only makes this task tougher for Anderson, and the less than feels like the right play here.
Erick Fedde more than is a scary proposition at first glance, but the Phillies are striking out quite a bit vs right-handers as evidenced by their league-worst 29.2% rate over the previous 10 days. Their wRC+ mark is also still below 100, which is something we like to see when attacking an offense, but it has been rising steadily since the return of Bryce Harper. That being said, Fedde has gone over this total in half of his starts and also just managed to strike out seven (!) Blue Jays two starts ago on April 28th. This is in addition to the nine Diamondbacks he was able to get on April 17th, so high strikeout totals are certainly something he is capable of.
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Mariners @ Dodgers
More or Less Contest
Walker Buehler more than 7.5 strikeouts and Yusei Kikuchi more than 3.5 strikeouts
Walker Buehler gets a solid matchup in this one with an AL team visiting an NL park and getting to face Kikuchi likely twice in this one. The Mariners are also striking out at a rate of nearly 25% vs. right-handers over the previous 10 days, which is ranked 10th-worst in baseball over that span. Buehler has also gone over this total in each of his previous three starts.
Kikuchi has been solid in 2021 and this number for him is a bit too low. It is likely this low because people do not think of the Dodgers as a team that strikes out much, but they have a K rate of 26.5% vs. left-handers over the previous 10 days, which is ranked ninth-worst in baseball over that span. Kikuchi has also managed to go over this total in four of his six starts and each of his last two in 2021. This is also his first start in an NL park in 2021, so facing the pitcher position should bump his total by at least one K.
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