Tampa Bay’s Shane McClanahan leads the majors with 123 strikeouts so far this season. White Sox pitcher Dylan Cease is not far behind with 121.
Two of the top five pitchers in strikeouts are in action today. Milwaukee’s Corbin Burnes is third with 119 and the Yankees Gerrit Cole is fifth with 111.
Burnes will take on Pittsburgh and Cole goes up against Cleveland. How will they fare? Here are the top MLB strikeouts props picks for Friday, July 1, 2022.
Gerrit Cole – UNDER 6.5 Ks (+115)
Yankees vs. Guardians Prediction
Yes, Cole is one of the best pitchers in baseball. He is 6-2 with a 2.99 ERA this season, but he isn’t at his best. It was just a few starts ago that Cole got rocked for seven earned runs by Minnesota.
Today, Cole faces Cleveland, a lineup that is young. The Guardians are aggressive and like to swing the bat. One thing that stands out about the Guardians is this. Cleveland hitters strikeout the least among all MLB teams.
The Guardians strikeout 6.97 times per game and have 50 fewer strikeouts that second-place Houston. Cole is definitely capable of going Over this prop and he’s done that in his last three starts. Not tonight though.
Corbin Burnes – OVER 7.5 (-165)
Brewers vs. Pirates Prediction
Burnes is once again one of MLB’s elite pitchers. He is 6-4 with a 2.41 ERA and has recorded 119 strikeouts so far this season. That puts Burnes third among all MLB pitchers.
His K/9 ratio is 11.5 and he has surpassed this prop in each of his last four starts. His last four games have seen 9, 10, 8, and 8 strikeouts.
Tonight, Burnes faces the Pittsburgh Pirates, a team he faced back in April. In that start, he went seven innings, gave up four hits, two earned runs, and struck out 10.
The Pirates are one of the worst hitting teams in the majors. The rank in MLB’s bottom five in runs, hits, RBIs, strikeouts, batting average, OBP, and OPS. Pittsburgh has six players that have struck out at least 50 times this season.
Burnes easily goes Over this number tonight.
Glenn Otto – OVER 3.5 Ks (+130)
Otto is 4-3 on the season and his 5.31 ERA is not encouraging. However, Otto seems to rise to the level of the lineup he is facing.
In his last start for example, he gave up six hits and six earned runs in just two innings against Washington. The Nationals are one of the worst teams in the majors this year.
In the three starts prior to that one – Texas won all three by the way – Otto allowed four earned runs in 16 innings against the Mariners, Rays, and Angels. He also surpassed tonight’s strikeout number in all three games.
Tonight, Otto takes on the New York Mets, which have one of the best lineups in baseball. The Mets actually strikeout the fourth-fewest times (7.58) per game in MLB.
Otto rises to the occasion again and goes Over 3.5 Ks.
Trevor Rogers – OVER 3.5 Ks (-160)
Marlins vs. Nationals Prediction
Rogers isn’t putting fear into too many hitters with his 3-6 record and his 5.86 ERA. He only has 58 strikeouts for the season too, but he has gone Over this number in three of his last four starts.
What’s impressive about that is that two of the starts were against the Mets. The Marlins lost both games, but Rogers had five strikeouts in one game and seven in the other.
The third of those four games in which Rogers went Over this prop was against Washington, the team he faces tonight. Rogers pitched five innings in that game, allowed two earned runs, and struck out five. The Marlins went on to win 7-4. Rogers repeats that performance tonight.
