Sunday baseball has been my nemesis this season, but there is a pitching prop with value that has caught my eye this morning. For today’s prop article we are heading to the windy city of Chicago to back visiting starting pitcher Nick Lodolo of the Cincinnati Reds. Let’s dive in!
Nick Lodolo (CIN) over 5.5 strikeouts recorded (-130)
Following Nick Lodolo’s May 11 start against the Giants, the tall southpaw hit the injured list with a groin injury that had been bugging him. He missed 16 days of action but returned for his last start against the Cardinals. Lodolo was able to register 5.1 innings of 1-run ball while being somewhat limited to 81 pitches across 21 total batters faced. Despite only 3 strikeouts in his return to MLB action, Lodolo draws a far more promising matchup in terms of strikeout potential today against the Chicago Cubs.
While the Cubs have only a 21.2% strikeout rate against southpaw pitching this season, I still find this to be an advantageous matchup. The Cubs have seen the 8th fewest PA against left-handers this year, and the majority of them have come against weaker talent. Arms like Tommy Henry, Kyle Freeland, and A.J. Puk have bolstered their numbers in that small sample, but the more talented southpaws they have seen have found success with strikeouts. Jesus Luzardo and Cody Bradford each notched 6 punch outs in their opportunity while Chris Sale (9), Max Fried (9), and Robert Gasser (7) have all cleared this line recently.