Hello everybody and welcome! We have finally reached Opening Week for the 2021 MLB season and that means our new friends over at PrizePicks have a TON of great props we can look to take advantage of. PrizePicks is a great DFS props site where you can choose to select plays in terms of fantasy points or single stats. The goal is to build a 2-player, 3-player, 4-player, or 5-player entry and then select whether or not you want to play for the power play or the flex play. On the power play, you will need to be correct on each of your selections to win, and on the flex play, you will have a little more wiggle room for a chance to win some money back.
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PrizePicks has two types of games. The first type of game is known as Fantasy Score, which consists of selecting various players and trying to determine if they will go over or under their projected fantasy points in a game. The second game is known as Single Stat. For MLB, Single Stat consists of pitcher strikeout props in which you determine if the pitcher in question will go over or under their projected strikeout total. You can mix and match players from each type of game in your entry or select all of your plays from the same type of game. Once you have selected your players and props, you can choose the aforementioned flex play or power play option. For today's article, we are going to try and focus on the main board's Single Stat pitchers and explain why a pitcher will or will not go over their projected strikeout total. Let's see what the board offers today!
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Single Stat Strikeout Totals
Rich Hill under 5 strikeouts - Rich Hill was not sharp in his debut against the Miami Marlins as he threw just four innings and gave up four earned runs while striking out four. The Marlins have a 21.4% K rate vs. left-handed pitching, which is solid, but is not quite as good as the Yankees 19.7% that ranks seventh-best in baseball. The Yankees should be able to get to him in this one as they are currently posting a wRC+ of 111 vs. lefties and are also posting a .752 OPS.
Zach Plesac over 5.5 strikeouts - Plesac just faced these Tigers a week ago and managed to strike out just four across his six innings of work. This was probably an anomaly as Plesac has much more strikeout potential than what he showed in the opener. In 2020, he managed to go over 5.5 strikeouts in all but two of his starts. The Tigers are also striking out at a clip of 26.6% vs. right-handed pitchers to begin the season, which is 12th-worst in baseball. Here's to thinking Plesac can get over the hump in this one at home.
Lance McCullers Jr. over 6 strikeouts - This is a great spot for McCullers as we all know he loves pitching at home. In his last start against these same Athletics, McCullers struck out seven across five innings. He may be able to go deeper in this one and that is great news, especially considering the A's strike out at a clip of 28.1% vs. right-handed pitchers, which is ranked 11th-worst in the league. They are also only posting a .062 ISO vs. righties, which is ranked second-worst in the league.
Taylor Widener under 6.5 strikeouts - Widener had a nice debut against the Padres as he managed to strike out five of them across six innings pitched. This was a solid feat considering the Padres have the lowest strikeout rate against righties in the league at a rate of just 18.8%. That being said, these Reds have been on absolute fire vs. righties to begin the season as they have posted a wRC+ mark of 173(!), which is tops in the league. They are also posting an OPS of 1.011, which is also tops in the league. This total is achievable for Widener, but I think the Reds get to him and make it so that he falls just short. I would recommend using this in a flex play as well.
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