Chris Welsh’s favorite wager of the slate is Eric Lauer to record at least five strikeouts at ‑110. Lauer has hit that mark in back-to-back appearances since his fastball velo ticked up and regained late ride. The matchup sweetens the pot: Chicago ranks inside the bottom dozen clubs in contact rate and sits top-10 in overall strikeout percentage. Given Lauer’s new swing-and-miss profile and the White Sox’s free-swinging approach, Welsh expects the left-hander to clear 4.5 Ks comfortably, projecting six or seven punch-outs in roughly five innings.

Lindquist listed Eric Lauer over 4.5 strikeouts as an appealing parlay piece, even at the juiced −165. The Angels strike out 27.9% of the time and carry just an 84 wRC+ versus southpaws, providing a generous ceiling for any competent lefty. While Lauer is not an elite punch-out arm, Lindquist noted he has flashed spurts of swing-and-miss and should benefit from Los Angeles’ whiff-heavy profile. In a bullpen day on the other side, he expects Lauer to work deep enough to clear five Ks.

Malcom Bamford is playing Toronto FIRST FIVE because Cleveland remains dreadful against southpaws, posting a 4-15-3 first-five record versus left-handed starters this year. He ‘sneakily’ likes how Eric Lauer has stretched out — the Jays have won all three of his recent starts — and doesn’t trust Toronto’s shaky bullpen for nine full innings. With Logan Allen carrying a mid-4s ERA across every split (home/road/month), Bamford expects a short early lead and will reevaluate live after five.

Kenny G advised grabbing the Toronto Blue Jays at the pick-em price of -110 because he believes the matchup favors them. He trusts starter Eric Lauer, who just struck out eight and allowed one run over five innings against Arizona, and highlighted Toronto’s 3.55 bullpen ERA. Guardians starter Logan Allen surrendered five runs in 5.2 innings when he faced the Jays in May and now draws a lineup that ranks 4th in average and 9th in OBP despite a brief slump versus the White Sox. Cleveland’s offense, on the other hand, has posted just 3, 4, 1, 1 and 4 runs in its last five and sits 25th in runs and 27th in slugging, leaning almost entirely on Jose Ramirez for production. With both pens solid but the talent gap on offense and starting mound edge pointing to Toronto, Kenny labeled the Jays the clear value side at -110.