Welcome back to another PrizePicks MLB Wednesday!
The season is winding down but there is plenty of action left on the board.
Let’s dive in and find some plays.
It may be a lost season for the Yankees, but Cole has shown enough grit and pride to go out there and do his thing.
His season-long ERA is less than 3.00, and despite a decline in strikeout rate he’s still punching out almost 27% of hitters.
Dating back to the beginning of 2022, there is no projected Detroit starter with a strikeout rate better than 22.6% against right-handed pitchers.
Cole’s primary pitch mix includes his fastball and slider and, according to our RotoGridners PlateIQ data, the Tigers have been a porous slider-hitting team across the last two seasons.
Get an edge on games with our expert sports betting picks.
Sign up for Post Picks today.
Cole hasn’t pitched vs. the Tigers this season, so it’s either been a while or the first time some of these Detroit bats will see Cole live.
Cole is coming off of an 11-strikeout game and has recorded 10-plus strikeouts in three of his last eight starts.
Kyle Freeland does not strike out many betters, especially right-handed hitters.
Freeland has punched out just 13% of righties and 19% of lefties this season.
Atlanta is projected to roll out seven right-handed hitters against him Wednesday and only one is striking out more than 20% of the time vs. southpaws this season.
Freeland’s K rate against lefties is a tick higher, but it’s still not good.
The Braves should send out two lefties – one is the dominant Matt Olson and the other, Michael Harris, is striking out just 15% of the time against LHPs this season.
As long as none of the Braves wake up on the wrong side of the bed, I like our chances of a push at worst.
Acuna nuked Monday at Coors and he’s in another phenomenal spot Wednesday.
There are just so many ways he can accrue points. He has a massive walk rate and is one of the best hitters in baseball. Acuna leads baseball with a whopping 61 steals.
He gets a cupcake matchup Wednesday against Kyle Freeland, who has struggled much more against right-handed hitters compared to lefties this season.
Despite punching out less than 20% of hitters this season, Freeland, a lefty, has been more than serviceable against left-handed hitters, sporting a clean .110 ISO, .286 wOBA, and 5.8% barrel rate.
But those numbers balloon to .235, .388 and 10% against right-handed hitters.
Acuna has struck out just 14% of the time and owns a 12.8% walk rate against lefties in 2023.
The Braves are on the road and Acuna is slated to lead off. I’d be shocked if he didn’t get at least five chances at the dish to make some magic happen.
Texas pitcher Dane Dunning typically pitches to contact and he’s struggled a bit against left-handed hitters this season. Dunning is punching out only 16.7% of lefties, while yielding a .159 ISO and a .343 wOBA.
Lindor has dropped two goose eggs in back-to-back games, but before that he hit at least seven fantasy points in 10 of his previous 13 appearances.
He owns a respectable .194 ISO, .347 wOBA and a solid 11% walk rate against right-handed pitchers in 2023. I’m backing him to get back on track Wednesday in a contact friendly matchup.