Wednesday, June 28 MLB props, odds, trends: Bettors mixed on Mets pitcher Kodai Senga vs. Brewers

Among the five most-wagered MLB player props at DraftKings for tonight's slate, the one player taking easily the most action overall is New York Mets right-hander Kodai Senga against the visiting Milwaukee Brewers. Yet bettors at the book are both optimistic and pessimistic on the 30-year-old Senga, who is considered a rookie because it's his first season in the Show from Japan. The Mets are -145 favorites.

The teams have split the first two game of the series. It's fine for Milwaukee to tread water right now because the NL Central is a very weak division and it may only take a .500 record to win it. The Mets (36-43), on the other hand, are absolutely not winning the NL East. They are already 16.5 games behind the Braves. So it's wild card or bust, and the Mets are 8.5 games back of the final spot.

Manager Buck Showalter did get a vote of confidence this week, and owner Steve Cohen confirmed at a press conference Wednesday afternoon that Showalter's job is safe for the season.

While some of the big-money New York offseason signings have blown up in the Mets' faces, the addition of Senga has been a success. Senga is 6-5 with a 3.52 ERA and 93 strikeouts in 14 starts. He loves Citi Field, going 3-2 with a 2.52 ERA there. This will be Senga's first-ever look at the Brewers.

The two popular props on him are Under 17.5 outs at -160 and Over 6.5 strikeouts at -105. Senga averages 6.6 strikeouts with a high of 12 on May 17 vs. the Rays and a low of three on June 4 vs. Toronto. He has gone at least 6.1 innings (17.5 outs) just three times. Milwaukee ranks fourth in the majors in batter strikeouts at 748.

Senga's 93 strikeouts lead all NL rookies and are the fourth-most by a Met through their first 14 career game behind Dwight Gooden (107), Nolan Ryan (103), and Matt Harvey (102). They are also the fourth-most by a Japanese-born pitcher through their first 14 games, trailing only Hideo Nomo (129), Masahiro Tanaka (113) and Yu Darvish (96).

New York is 22-3 when its starter goes at least six innings and 8-1 when the starter goes at least seven. The Mets are 23-9 (.719) when scoring first this year and 13-34 when not. They are only 18-16 at home compared to 28-15 at home at the All-Star break last season, a campaign in which they won 101 games.

Other popular MLB player props tonight vs. DraftKings:

• Angels' Shohei Ohtani Over 1.5 total bases (+110) vs. White Sox: If Ohtani plays, that is. He is 7-for-23 with a double, triple and three homers career of Chicago starting pitcher Lucas Giolito.
• Marlins' Braxton Garrett Over 5.5 strikeouts (+120) at Red Sox: Garrett has never faced Boston.
• Reds' Jake Fraley Over 0.5 home runs (+700) vs. Orioles: Fraley is 3-for-4 with two homers off Baltimore starter Kyle Gibson.

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