Welcome back for another Friday breakdown of the MLB PrizePicks board.

All 30 teams are in action today, giving us a loaded slate with no games starting before 6:40 p.m. ET. 

Let’s take a look at some of my favorite spots to target. 

Mad Max has had an inconsistent season overall, as he is currently sporting an ERA over 4.00 after the midpoint of a season for the first time in over a decade.

The strikeout rate is still a solid 27.4%, but not quite at the elite rates we have become accustomed to over the past several years. 

Despite his rocky season, Scherzer has posted at least six strikeouts in 13 of his 18 starts, including each of his last seven starts and 10 of his last 11.

He has reached at least seven strikeouts in nine of those last 11 starts. 

The matchup today is not ideal for strikeouts.

The Nationals strikeout rate of 18.7% is the second lowest in MLB.

However, they also own the second lowest walk rate in the league and rank 24th with an 88 wRC+ versus right-handed pitching. 

Scherzer has thrown 100+ pitches with regularity again this season, and he should be able to maintain his pitch count into the late innings thanks to the lack of patience and resistance from the Nats. 

I think he works at least into the seventh inning in this one and picks up more than six strikeouts along the way. 

Giolito has had a mostly solid year for the White Sox before being traded to the Angels on Wednesday.

He owns a 3.79 ERA and solid 25.8% strikeout rate on the season. 

He has posted more than 5.5 strikeouts in 11 of his 21 starts this year, but he gets a difficult landing spot here in his first start for Los Angeles as they take on Toronto. 

The Blue Jays own baseball’s ninth-best wOBA (.327) and seventh-best wRC+ (109).

They have struck out at just 21.0% this season, which is the fifth-lowest in the league. 

Giolito has recorded more than 5.5 strikeouts in just one of his last four starts, and that came against the Twins who own the highest strikeout rate in baseball. 

One of those four starts was against this Blue Jays team, where he lasted 6 innings and gave up just 2 runs, but he also only managed to record 2 strikeouts. 

The right-handed heavy Blue Jays match up very well with the reverse splits of Giolito. I think they hold him to less than 5.5 strikeouts again today. 

This one may feel a bit uncomfortable at first since Cole has racked up double-digit strikeouts in each of his last two starts, but hear me out. 

Cole faced two of the worst offenses in baseball in his last two starts, with matchups against the Royals and Rockies.

They are tied for the worst wRC+ (80) in all of baseball.

The Rockies have struck out at the seventh highest rate (24.2%), while the Royals have struck out at the sixth highest rate (24.7%). 

Tonight, Cole gets a much more difficult matchup against the Orioles, who own a 104 wRC+ and have struck out at just 22.4% on the season.

He lasted just five innings, allowed five runs, and recorded just two strikeouts when he faced the Orioles back in May. 

Cole has topped seven strikeouts in just nine of his 21 starts this year, and his 27.6% strikeout rate is the lowest it has been since 2017. 

The Orioles should be able to get to Cole a bit and hold him to less than 7 strikeouts. 

Williamson owns just an 18.8% strikeout this season and gets a matchup against one of the best offenses in baseball.

The Dodgers own the third-best wOBA (.339) and fourth-best wRC+ (115) in MLB, and they have struck out at a rate of just 22.5% this season. 

They have also recently added Amed Rosario via trade, who owns just a 14.3% strikeout rate versus left-handed pitching this season and should be available to make his Dodgers debut today. 

Williamson has posted more than four strikeouts in just five of his 12 starts.

Given the low strikeout rate and brutal matchup, I like Williamson to record less than 4 strikeouts today.