Don’t Expect Zack Wheeler to Rack Up Strikeouts vs. Nationals

Zack Wheeler has turned into a strikeout machine this season, but don’t expect that to continue tonight when he and the Philadelphia Phillies take on the Washington Nationals.

Wheeler has a strikeouts per nine innings rate of 10.6 this season, which is significantly higher than his previous best, which was 9.1 back in 2014 with the New York Mets. He is second in all of Major League Baseball in total strikeouts with 165, behind only Gerrit Cole of the Yankees who has 176.

He’s in a tough spot tonight to record many K's, as he’s taking on a Nationals team that sports the second lowest strikeout percentage in the Majors at 21.9%. Only the Houston Astros, Toronto Blue Jays, and Pittsburgh Pirates have lower strikeout rates.

WynnBET has Wheeler’s player prop for strikeouts set at 7.5 with the under juiced to -150 and the over set at +110. While the over may be tempting, especially at plus-money, the under at -150 is the bet to make.

He has recorded fewer than 7.5 strikeouts in three of his last five starts, including his most recent start against this very same Nationals team when he only recorded five. In fact, Wheeler has faced the Nationals four times this season, and has only hit the over on 7.5 K's once.

While the Nationals may not score many runs on the Phillies ace, they should be able to remain disciplined at the plate and prevent many strikeouts.

WynnBET has the Phillies set as -175 favorites. The Nationals are +145 underdogs as Patrick Corbin (5.78 ERA) gets the bump for Washington. The total for the game is set at 8.5 runs.

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