For my Wednesday MLB player props, I'll be looking into outs recorded and strikeouts plays for two starting pitchers.
Let's dive into my MLB player prop picks for Wednesday, April 30
MLB Prop Picks — Wednesday, April 30
- Emerson Hancock Under 15.5 Outs Recorded (-120, DraftKings)
- Luis Severino Over 4.5 Strikeouts (-120, bet365)
Angels vs Mariners Player Props: Hancock Faces Uphill Battle
Emerson Hancock comes into his fourth start of the year with inflated counting stats, as his first start of the season didn't go well.
However, he's since responded by stringing together two quality starts.
While he appears to have righted the ship, his xERA of 5.10 is very concerning and could lead to some trouble this afternoon against an Angels lineup that's due for positive regression and ranks in the top 10 in barrel rate.
Given Hancock's tendency to allow a lot of traffic on the bases, it's unlikely we'll see him work very deep in this game, especially if the Angels are able to bring runners around to score.
Athletics vs Rangers Player Props: Severino Set to Exploit Texas Swingers
Luis Severino's success last season stemmed from his ability to generate soft contact and increase his ground-ball rate.
However, he's not your typical ground-ball artist, as he's proven many times that he can generate strikeouts.
Severino recorded at least five strikeouts in 59% of his starts last season, and we've seen him eclipse that mark in four of his six starts this year.
On Wednesday, he'll toe the rubber against a Texas Rangers lineup that's been undisciplined in the early part of this season.
The Rangers are second in the league in chase rate and have the sixth-lowest chase contact rate. As a result, they're 12th in whiff rate and rank 16th in strikeout rate against righties.
Look for Severino to take advantage of this and rack up the strikeouts.
