Chris Sale has a chance to guide the Braves over the White Sox, while Blue Jays righty Max Scherzer and Tigers lefty Framber Valdez are also slated to take the mound Wednesday. Sam Connon shares his picks and predictions in regards to the three starting pitchers’ strikeout prop bets.
There are a handful of aces taking the mound Wednesday, including a trio of veteran All-Stars in Tigers southpaw Framber Valdez, Blue Jays righty Max Scherzer and Braves lefty Chris Sale. Will Valdez continue to put his shaky May behind him? Can Sale bolster his NL Cy Young resume? How will Scherzer look in his return from the injured list? Here is our full breakdown of where we think each starting pitcher will wind up in the strikeout column.
Valdez has come up short of 5.5 strikeouts in four straight appearances, as well as 10 of his 13 starts on the season. He had a stretch from April 19 to May 13 where he went over the line in three out of five outings, but has come up empty in all eight of his starts outside of that window. Valdez has had clean starts – like his 5.0-inning, one-run performance his last time out on June 5 – and messy ones – such as his 6.2-inning, four-run showing on May 30 – that have both fallen shy of 5.5 punchouts. Minnesota’s lineup ranks top-10 in strikeouts per game, but Valdez only notched two strikeouts the last time he faced them. The Twins also racked up 10 hits and eight runs against the southpaw that night. While this showdown is taking place in Detroit, Valdez is averaging just 5.9 strikeouts per nine innings at home since joining the Tigers. He has yet to break 5.5 strikeouts at Comerica Park in 2026.
Before he hit the injured list with right forearm tendinitis in late April, Scherzer 1-3 with a 9.64 ERA. He averaged 4.8 strikeouts per nine innings in that season-opening, five-start span, maxing out at four strikeouts in his 2026 debut and coming in below 3.5 in the following four. Between his last two outings alone, he totaled one strikeout in 8.1 innings. Although he posted four and five strikeouts in his two minor league rehab starts, Scherzer got lit up for five hits and three runs in 3.2 frames in his last Triple-A showing. When it comes to the matchup, Philadelphia ranks around league-average in strikeouts per game. The Phillies are also 0.5 games behind the Brewers for the best record in MLB since April 28, and they could very likely chase Scherzer off the mound early, all while picking on the veteran who has an 11.9% K rate and 13.8% whiff rate this season.
Sale has been a strikeout fiend for years, averaging double-digit strikeouts per nine innings in 12 of his 16 MLB campaigns. So far in 2026, he is averaging 10.6, although that number goes up to 11.4 since April 6. Over that 10-start stretch, Sale has thrown at least as many strikeouts as he has completed innings. Sale went for eight or more strikeouts in five of six starts prior to his last outing, when he finished with six punchouts in 5.2 innings. The workload is about as reliable as possible for Sale, who has tossed 97-plus pitches in nine straight. While Sale is only 5-for-12 when it comes to reaching eight strikeouts, the White Sox rank fourth in MLB in strikeouts per game this season. Of the other teams that strike out at a top-seven rate, Sale has faced two of them. He struck out 11 versus Colorado and seven against the Angels – both on the road. That’s a solid floor, one that he could easily outdo by one and hit eight strikeouts Wednesday.
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Good luck with your MLB prop bets today!
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