Shane Bieber’s Strikeout Prediction is Enticing
By Peter Dewey
He may be the second-most famous Bieber in the world, but Shane Bieber has made quite the name for himself in his baseball career.
Bieber has been dominant early on in 2021 and he will get a chance to face the up-and-coming Seattle Mariners on Sunday.
Prized prospect Jarred Kelenic burst on the scene in his major league debut, but he will get his first taste of elite pitching when Bieber toes the rubber today. WynnBET currently projects Bieber to total 9.5 strikeouts on Sunday with the over (-140) being favored to the under (+105).
Bieber notched 11 or more strikeouts in five of his first six starts of the year, but he’s struck out nine and eight batters in his last two outings. That may have lowered his strikeout projection, and for a guy who’s punched out 85 batters in 55.0 innings, double-digit punchouts doesn’t seem all that daunting.
One of Bieber’s lower strikeout games came against the Kansas City Royals (he had nine) who are averaging just 8.26 strikeouts per game as a team this season. That’s the third-best mark in baseball.
Seattle is on the other end of the spectrum, as it averages 9.30 K’s per contest which is 22nd in MLB this season. Bieber didn’t do himself any favors in his last two starts, as he was knocked around for nine hits in both games, but still didn’t allow more than three earned runs in either start.
If he can keep his pitch count down, Bieber has shown he’s more than capable (he already has a complete game this season) of going deep into games, and Cleveland has been letting him throw an average of 107.5 pitches per start this season.
The Mariners propensity to strikeout out should help Bieber push for the over on his projection on Sunday. Seattle averages just 6.47 hits per game, the lowest total in MLB, which should help Bieber keep his pitch count down and stay out of trouble in this one.
We’re rolling with Bieber to get back on track and notch double-digit K’s for the sixth time this year against a young and uninspiring Seattle offense. Kelenic certainly makes them more interesting, but he alone won’t change Bieber’s fortunes in this one.