PrizePicks MLB Top Plays: 2022 MLB Opening Day
Published: Apr 07, 2022
MLB Opening Day is here and this season we are going to be bringing you our PrizePicks MLB player props for each main slate. Today's board features some juicy strikeout props we are going to be targeting to kick off the season.
Make sure you join our FREE PrizePicks Discord and join the #FAmily as we discuss additional plays to help build winning tickets each day!
New to PrizePicks? Check out our offer below!
PrizePicks MLB Top Plays
Adam Wainwright Over 4.0 Strikeouts
Oh boy, there is maybe no bigger Wainwright mark than me over the past few seasons as the veteran righty has been an absolute monster when pitching at home, posting a 2.84 home ERA over the last three seasons. He has been especially dominant against the Pittsburgh Pirates whom he is 8-0 against over the last three seasons. Last season against the Pirates he was a ridiculous 4-0 while allowing just one run over 30.0 innings. The Pirates are a team that did not strikeout a ton last season but in his four starts against them last season he posted strikeout totals of five, seven, eight and nine. Pittsburgh is looking like a bottom-of-the-barrel team here once again this season with a lineup that doesn't exactly spark too much fear in any opposing pitcher. With Wainwright on the mound at home I think he hits this over once again.
Adam Wainwright Strikeout Totals vs Pirates in 2021
Yu Darvish Over 5.5 Strikeouts
Another juicy strikeout total here with Yu Darvish and his strikeout prop total of just 5.5 strikeouts against a woeful Arizona Diamondbacks lineup. Darvish last season boasted a 10.8 K/9 on the year and averaged 6.63 strikeouts per game. He faced the Diamondbacks five times last season and hit the over on this total in three of those five games. Those two misses came over the final two months of the season when Darvish really struggled. That said, this is a new season and he is coming off a strong spring training which saw him finish with 14 strikeouts over 11.1 innings while allowing just three runs. Again, Arizona's projected lineup today is absolutely nothing to write home about and is one of the reasons they have one of the lowest projected win totals in baseball this season.
Yu Darvish 2021 Game by Game Strikeout Totals
Corbin Burnes Over 17.0 Outs
This one is as simple as it sounds. We need Corbin Burnes to pitch six innings today against the Chicago Cubs. Burnes is the reigning NL Cy Young Award winner and last season he pitched at least six innings in 68-percent of his starts. He faced the Cubs twice in 2021 and finished with 18 and 24 outs in the two starts, six-innings and eight-inning respectively. The Cubs lineup is far from what it used to be with the likes of Anthony Rizzo, Kris Bryant and Kyle Schwarber, and Javier Báez no longer on the team. Instead, Burnes just needs to navigate is way around Ian Happ, Nick Madrigal, Frank Schwindel…you get the point. Let's lock this one in and look to see the Burnes defending his Cy Young Award in dominant fashion.
Corbin Burnes 2021 Total Outs By Start
Follow me on Twitter for more PrizePicks discussions! @jimpemba777
Make sure you check out our PrizePicks Discord Channel where more plays will be added! Join the Discord by clicking the connect button in your account profile to join the conversation!
Related Links
Graph Credit:
Player News
Orioles manager Brandon Hyde told reporters that Zach Eflin (lat) is likely to return and start Sunday against the Angels
It was assumed that Eflin would be back this weekend, but now we have a concrete date. The 31-year-old may not be at full strength after throwing fewer than 60 pitches in his rehab start, but the Orioles feel confident enough to have the right-hander back on the bump for the series finale against the Angels.
Riley Greene is not in the lineup for the first game of a doubleheader against the Rockies on Thursday.
Greene will get a break and likely return to the lineup for the second game of the twin-billing. Zach McKinstry will get the start in left field while Greene rests.
Yu Darvish (elbow) is facing live hitters on Thursday.
Darvish has been throwing bullpen sessions and traveled to the team’s complex in Arizona to face live hitters on Thursday. It will be his first time facing live batters since a spring training appearance on March 13th. He will likely need a few sessions like this before the Padres can map out a rehab appearance timeline for him.
Adael Amador is starting at second base and batting ninth for the Rockies on Thursday.
Amador has now started three of the last four games at second base for the Rockies. He’s gone just 7-for-43 this season with 15 strikeouts in 16 games. He’s just 22 years old, so there is plenty of time for him to adjust to the MLB level, but he doesn’t need to be on redraft radars right now.
Jackson Holliday is playing second base and batting second for the Orioles on Thursday against the Twins.
With Cedric Mullins sitting out on Thursday, Gunnar Henderson will bat lead off, and Holliday will jump up from sixth in the order to second. Holliday is riding a hot streak right now, and the Orioles are taking advantage. This is likely just a one-game sample with no Mullins or Adley Rutschman in the lineup, but Rutschman has been struggling, so perhaps it could become a more permanent spot in the lineup for Holliday moving forward.
Endy Rodriguez (finger) had his splint removed this week.
Rodriguez suffered a lacerated right index finger on April 14th. Now that he is out of his splint, he “is playing catch and doing a slightly modified swing.” Once he can progress to taking full swings, we’ll have a better sense of the timeline for his return.