Jon Jansen 
It was a short-time ago that you could consider the Phillies lineup as one of the best in baseball, but have now been plagued by injuries as of late. Let’s take advantage of that and a couple of plays in Chicago on tonight’s 9/16 MLB Slate.
Jacob deGrom o7.5 Strikeouts (-148)
This one is pretty simple. The Phillies lineup has been decimated by injuries, specifically their hottest of late in Rhys Hoskins and Bryce Harper is in a major slump. The current Phillies lineup isn’t the same one that was once near the top in baseball. Eventually the Phillies lineup could get back to form when Hoskins and Realmuto return, along with a resurgence from Harper. However, that’s not going to happen anytime soon and especially not tonight against one of baseball’s best pitchers in deGrom. The last time out against the Phillies deGrom had 12 strikeouts and also has more than 7.5 strikeouts in his last four starts. Yeah, there’s a lot of juice on the over, but this strikeout prop seems pretty safe. As for betting the Mets, I can’t in good faith take them at -182, even with deGrom pitching against a depleted Phillies lineup and especially when the Phillies have one of their aces in Zack Wheeler on the mound.
One thing is clear when looking at this matchup and that is Cleveland has a very clear advantage in the pitching matchup. Cleveland has lost their last five games, but this seems like a good spot to end their skid against Jon Lester. Lester pitched much better in his last start against the Brewers, but it’s been a pretty bad season for the left-hander. The two games before the Brewers he gave up five runs in each game. But while I think Cleveland will end up winning this game, I don’t think we will see a lot of runs early on. Despite Lester’s shortcomings this season, he is facing a lineup that ranks near the bottom against LHP. Cleveland is 21st in hard contact percentage, 26th in wOBA and 27th in wRC+. This game has a chance to have a bit of a slow start, but I like Cleveland’s chances to get a few on Lester and win this one.
Thanks so much for reading my article MLB Betting: 9/16 MLB Slate. You can follow me on twitter @jjansen34 and Win Daily @WinDailySports. Check out more MLB and sports betting articles at Win Daily Sports.
