If you’ve been following along this MLB season, you know we love to bet the under when two undervalued pitchers are on the mound.
So, naturally, we’re champing at the bit ahead of Wednesday’s duel between the Rays’ Shane McClanahan and the Pirates’ Mitch Keller.
Keller, a former top-50 prospect, is attacking the zone more than we’ve ever seen, and the results are plain to see.
Since allowing four runs in 4 ²/₃ innings on Opening Day, he’s posted five straight quality starts with a 2.90 ERA across 31 innings.
And while his overall strikeout numbers have been so-so, he’s flashed moments of brilliance — namely in his most recent start, when he posted season highs in strikeouts (10) and swinging strikes (15) against the Dodgers.
Rays vs. Pirates pick
(6:40 p.m. ET)
McClanahan (2.12 ERA), ranks in the top three in called strike plus whiff rate (35 percent) and swinging strike rate (19.1 percent) while boasting MLB’s lowest zone contact rate (74.9 percent).
Translation: he’s virtually untouchable when he’s in the zone, both figuratively and literally.
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Both of these lineups have shown more juice than anyone expected entering the year, but neither is at full strength with injuries to key contributors, too.
With these two flamethrowers on the mound, expect a low-scoring affair.
Rays vs. Pirates prediction
Under 7 runs (-110, FanDuel)
𝗖𝗿𝗲𝗱𝗶𝘁𝘀, 𝗖𝗼𝗽𝘆𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 & 𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘁𝗲𝘀𝘆: nypost.com
𝗙𝗼𝗿 𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝗴𝗮𝗿𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗗𝗠𝗖𝗔,
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