Pirates rookie Paul Skenes drives books to offer special props

Field Level Media|published: Thu 23rd May, 18:42 2024

May 23, 2024; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Paul Skenes (30) pitches against the San Francisco Giants during the first inning at PNC Park. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

The Pittsburgh Pirates' bullpen is not winning any fans among those who bet the over on Paul Skenes' win total for the 2024 regular season.

The No. 1 overall pick in 2023 continued the strong start to his Pirates career on Thursday, holding the San Francisco Giants to one run on six hits while striking out three in six innings. It was a quality start, but not a winning one after the Pirates' bullpen blew a 6-2 lead in what ultimately was a 7-6 loss.

DraftKings had published a pair of prop markets for Skenes earlier in the day.

One was an Over/Under of 7.5 for regular-season wins. Skenes is now 1-0 through his first three starts, and the market has moved to 6.5.

The second was an Over/Under of 151.5 strikeouts for the season. Despite fanning only three batters on Thursday, Skenes is averaging 7.0 per outing while walking only four batters through 16.0 innings. That prop also shifted postgame, with the Over/Under at 144.5 strikeouts.

The hard-throwing Skenes -- who has also generated various prop bets around how many 100 mph pitches he'll register in a given outing -- topped out at 100.3 mph against the Giants, hitting triple digits four times.

--Field Level Media