Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw has 23 strikeouts in three starts this postseason.
That comes out to an average of 7.66 strikeouts per outing, but there’s obviously more to the math than meets the eye. Kershaw punched out 13 Brewer batters in his first round start. Then, he struck out six against the Padres and only four against the Braves in his next two starts. So one amazing outing definitely jacked up the average.
PointsBet Sportsbook is dealing Kershaw’s strikeout prop for Game 1 of the World Series at O/U 6.5 with heavy juice to the Over (-152). The Under is currently plus money (+110) and that’s pretty enticing.[[ad:athena]]
The elephant in the room is that Kershaw is a truly dominant pitcher in the regular season, but he’s much more mortal in the playoffs. His home run rate doubles and the ERA balloons from 2.43 to 4.31. And it’s no secret that his back has been bothering him. The southpaw was scratched from his start in Game 2 of the NLCS and he struggled through a laborious five innings in Game 4.
According to Baseball Reference, Kershaw has struck out seven batters or more in only 11 of his 28 postseason starts. That’s a very poor success rate and I would warn you about willingly stepping up to lay your hard earned money on his strikeout prop O6.5 at -152.
Sure, Tampa Bay has some free swingers in their lineup, but that also leads to the possibility of them being aggressive and hitting Kershaw around a bit. Approach is everything tonight and if the Rays can lay off the slider and sit on fastballs, the Under has a really good shot.
If Kershaw throws six innings and strikes out six batters, that’s a pretty decent game. It just wouldn’t be good enough to cash the Over. Let’s fade Playoff Kershaw at a nice plus price.
Play on Clayton Kershaw Under 6.5 strikeouts in Game 1 (+110).
PointsBet is our Official Sports Betting Partner, and we may receive compensation if you place a bet on PointsBet for the first time after clicking our links.
