MLB Strikeout Props: Tanner Bibee, Dane Dunning Highlight Friday Picks

Another day, another full schedule ahead for MLB Friday. Yesterday, we hit on two of our three picks, and we’re looking to finish the week strong with a similar performance.

All week, we’ve found exceptional value on the market, and today is no different. With our least valuable option for MLB strikeout props coming in at +104, we’re swinging for the fences with our Friday selections.

More MLB Betting: MLB MVP odds | NL MVP odds | AL MVP odds | MLB Rookie of the Year odds | 2023 World Series odds | MLB betting promotions

Today’s Betting Lines

The odds for the three contests we selected from today are outlined below from the top sports betting apps. If you’re looking for more action, check out the lines for all of Friday’s contests on our MLB odds page. You can also shop for the best sports betting promos on the market to use for tonight’s action.

MLB Strikeout Props (8/25/23)

Here are our best MLB strikeout props for Friday, Aug. 25.

Tanner Bibee Over 5.5 Strikeouts (+104 on FanDuel)

Guardians’ rookie Tanner Bibee is planted firmly in the AL Rookie of the Year race. Tonight, he is up against the Blue Jays for the second time this month. In the first outing, he went seven innings, didn’t allow a single run, and tossed six strikeouts. He has at least six Ks in six of his last nine games, including outings against the Rangers and Phillies in that stretch.

The Blue Jays are one of the better teams at avoiding strikeouts, but Bibee’s arsenal includes the slider, which he uses 28% of the time. It draws a chase and strikeout percentage above league average.

It is also a pitch the bulk of Toronto’s lineup struggles with at the plate. The Blue Jays have 12 hitters with more than 150 plate appearances this season, and seven of them hit the slider well under .240. Additionally, the Blue Jays have allowed at least eight strikeouts in six of their last 10 games, including four double-digit strikeout performances.

That should help his four-seamer be a lot more effective in the matchup. His four-seamer is one of the better-performing pitches in MLB. It averages 95 miles per hour, a chase percentage three points above league average, and a batting average well below league average.

Given his success in the first outing against Toronto and how the two match up on paper, we like the rookie to go Over his listed total tonight.

Dylan Cease Under 7.5 Strikeouts (+112 on FanDuel)

Dylan Cease is one of the better strikeout pitchers in the league, but he hasn’t hit this mark consistently in quite a while. In fact, he has only topped eight Ks in two of his last nine trips to the mound for the White Sox.

He played the A’s in that stretch, and it was one of his worst outings in the last two months. He only faced one batter in the fifth inning before being pulled due to allowing three runs and getting himself into a jam.

Oakland is a bottom-10 team in strikeouts, and that has been the case recently with them striking out in the double-digits in six of their last seven games. However, they have been streaky when it comes to putting runs on the board.

In fact, they scored eight runs in the first game of the current series with the White Sox in a win. Cease is among league leaders in strikeouts, but his ERA isn’t quite as good, which may cause problems for him given he has allowed 14 runs in four starts in August and has only made it to the sixth inning or beyond once this month. The one game he did, he still didn’t hit the eight-strikeout mark.

For the last 30 days, Cease’s ERA is 6.66, he has walked 16 batters, and allowed 30 hits in five games. As abysmal as the A’s have been recently, Cease has arguably been just as bad on the mound, which is why, believe it or not, we’re taking Oakland to stop Cease from going Over his listed total tonight.

Dane Dunning Over 5.5 Strikeouts (+120 on FanDuel)

Dane Dunning is having his best month of the year for the Rangers when it comes to strikeouts. In just four games through August, he has compiled 33 Ks, including 12- and 11-strikeout performances against the Giants and White Sox, respectively.

Tonight, he gets the call against the Twins, who are the worst in MLB in strikeouts with 1,317 – 56 more than the second-place Mariners. The Twins’ strikeout counts for their last 10 outings are 9, 10, 9, 16, 15, 11, 11, 9, 8, and 9.

The biggest reason we like Dunning on this line is his slider. He uses it 23% of the time and is limiting hitters to a .213 batting average against it. The Twins have 13 hitters with 150 or more plate appearances this season, and 11 of them hit the slider below .240, including seven who hit it at .200 or worse. That’s an incredibly advantageous statistic when it comes to this line tonight.

A bonus to consider taking this line is Dunning’s sinker, which is his primary pitch. It holds batters nearly seven percentage points below league average and has a strike percentage four points above average. This matchup seems primed in Dunning’s favor, which makes the +120 odds especially enticing.