Thursday marks one full week since the start of the baseball season, and we won’t lie — MLB player props are a sweat unlike any other in sports.
They’re not for the feint of heart, to be sure, but for those with the fortitude to sweat it out, the grind goes on.
Tonight we look at Cleveland’s No. 2 man in the rotation, Trevor Bauer, as he takes the mound at home to face the Toronto Blue Jays.
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Indians SP Trevor Bauer
Over 7.5 Strikeouts (-130)
The over is always in play when Bauer takes the mound due to the fact that he’s a workhorse. Between April and the end of August last year, Bauer hit at least 100 pitches in every one of his 25 starts, only once going less than 5.0 innings.
- He ranked 12th in quality starts with 20 in 2018
- He was fourth in Ks/9 innings with 11.3
- He ranked 25th in pitches thrown per game, although that average is weighted down by low pitch counts (34, 60, 51) in his final three starts after returning from injury late last year
This year, Bauer has picked up right where he left off. The 28-year-old right hander threw 108 pitches over 7.0 innings in his first start, fanning nine batters en route to a 2-1 win.
Blue Bird Battle
We’re counting on another deep, quality start from Bauer tonight, because on paper, the matchup isn’t the best. Toronto sports the sixth-best K/9 mark in the league, striking out just 7.71 times per game.
However, on an individual basis, Bauer has done well against the current edition of the Blue Jays batters.
| BATTER | AB | H | BB | SO | AVG |
| Brandon Drury | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.5 |
| Freddy Galvis | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0.5 |
| Luke Maile | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.5 |
| Justin Smoak | 9 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 0.333 |
| Devon Travis | 13 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0.154 |
| Totals | 28 | 8 | 1 | 8 | 0.286 |
Of those Jays batters he’ll face today, Bauer has 8 Ks in 28 at bats, including Justin Smoak, whom Bauer has struck out four times in nine plate appearances.
Conclusion
The Jays haven’t been a great team to target for strikeout overs, but I’ll take the sure and steady workload of Bauer in this one, especially considering his elite K/9 mark over the last year.
