Joe Osborne is taking the Phillies at plus odds with Zack Wheeler on the mound against Atlanta. Joe highlights Wheeler's dominant start, allowing just one earned run in each of his two starts with only five hits conceded total and 18 strikeouts. He also emphasizes Wheeler's historic dominance against the Braves (0.95 ERA in three starts last year) and notes the Braves' MLB-worst OPS entering this matchup. Contrasting that with Philly's high-powered offense, Joe assesses clear value in backing Wheeler and the Phillies as slight underdogs.

Kingpin likes the value of backing Philadelphia Phillies on the moneyline (+100) due to Zack Wheeler's recent strong form. Wheeler has started the season impressively, racking up strikeouts against powerful lineups. Facing a Braves team known for its tendency to chase pitches out of the zone increases Wheeler's potential for dominance. Despite Chris Sale's well-known name, Sale’s recent inconsistency further provides value on this bet where the Phillies have a legitimate chance of snagging a tight victory in Atlanta.

Jim Sannes likes Zack Wheeler's alternate strikeout prop of 8+ strikeouts, citing several encouraging trends. Wheeler has demonstrated strong stamina, throwing 105 pitches in his previous start and striking out 10. He's had eight-plus strikeouts in each of his first two starts this season. Crucially, Wheeler reduced cutter usage while relying more heavily on his splitter, a pitch boasting a 40.2% whiff rate last year compared to the cutter's modest 18.2%. In 11 starts with this adjusted pitch mix, Wheeler has posted a sterling 32.7% strikeout rate. Additionally, the Braves' lineup sports a 24.0% strikeout rate against right-handed pitchers since the start of last year. Taking these factors into account, Sannes projects Wheeler at 8.52 strikeouts, giving confidence in targeting Wheeler's strikeout upside at plus odds.

Kyle Purviance highlighted concerning head-to-head statistics that strongly lean against key Braves hitters in their matchup against Phillies ace Zack Wheeler. Notably, critical Atlanta lineup members Matt Olson, Ozzie Albies, and Marcell Ozuna collectively struggle significantly against Wheeler, with batting averages of just .219, .160, and .170 respectively, combined with a high strikeout rate—45 strikeouts over 145 plate appearances. Purviance cited these strong historical matchups as an additional reason to confidently back the Phillies at current underdog pricing, anticipating Wheeler to continue effectively suppressing Atlanta's production.

Just A Bet Outside emphasized Zack Wheeler's overwhelming historical success against multiple Atlanta Braves hitters today, highlighting Marcell Ozuna's 21 strikeouts, Ozzie Albies' 9 strikeouts in 47 at-bats, and Matt Olson's 8 Ks in 26 at-bats. Wheeler has been dominant recently, and given the Braves hitters' historical difficulties, they projected Wheeler to have a strong pitching performance.

B Wade strongly supports Zack Wheeler surpassing 7.5 strikeouts against an Atlanta team ranked sixth in MLB strikeout rates. Wheeler has exceeded this number consistently, already posting ten strikeouts against Colorado and eight against Washington this season. Looking back, he closed the previous season averaging over nine strikeouts per start in his final three games, twice facing the Mets and once facing Washington. Wheeler also averages approximately 9.5 strikeouts per start versus Atlanta historically. Given both Wheeler's recent form, previous track record against Atlanta, and their high strikeout tendency, Wade confidently endorses Wheeler to deliver another high-strikeout outing.

Charlie Wright recommended betting Zack Wheeler to stay under 6.5 strikeouts on Opening Day against the Nationals. Wright noted Washington had one of MLB's toughest lineups to strike out last season, finishing 8th lowest in strikeout rate vs right-handed pitching and improving further to 4th lowest in the final two months. The Nationals replaced high-strikeout players like Lane Thomas and Joey Gallo with strong contact hitters such as Nathaniel Lowe and Josh Bell, further tightening their strikeout profile. Wright also highlighted Wheeler's limited spring training workload of only 75 pitches and five innings per outing, likely restricting innings and limiting his strikeout ceiling in the opener.

Sean Zerillo strongly recommended betting under 6.5 strikeouts for Zach Wheeler against the Nationals. Zerillo’s analysis highlighted several reasons for this under play: first, Wheeler typically leans on sinkers earlier in the season to generate ground balls rather than chase strikeouts, shifting to more four-seam usage and velocity as the season progresses. Second, pitch count limitations on opening day will likely prevent Wheeler from exceeding around 90 pitches, further limiting strikeout upside. Lastly, Nationals hitters dramatically improved their strikeout rate after bringing up prospects Dylan Crews and James Wood last year, ending the season ranked second-best in MLB with just a 19.9% strikeout rate over the last two months. Zerillo expects the Nationals will continue their disciplined approach this season and Wheeler to stay below the 6.5 strikeout mark comfortably.

Chris Ruffolo said to fade Zachary Wheeler in his opening day start, pointing out that the betting public tends to overvalue pitchers based on prior season's results. Ruffolo emphasized that spring training performances in Florida are irrelevant and suggested that Wheeler's strong win totals from the previous year have inflated his betting lines. For value, Ruffolo recommends backing the Nationals as sizeable underdogs (+35, 45, or 55 cents), emphasizing the importance of shopping around for the best dime line value at various sportsbooks to maximize returns. Early-season betting methods, according to Ruffolo, revolve around fading pitchers who the public heavily bets due to high win totals from last year.

Bill Harrelson strongly recommends Zach Wheeler exceeding 34.5 fantasy points on opening day against the Nationals. Wheeler has convincingly surpassed this line in 12 consecutive starts and in 17 of his last 20 outings, resulting in an impressive 85% hit rate recently. Additionally, Wheeler has historically dominated the Nationals, registering fantasy totals of 43, 43, and 50 points in recent meetings. During the previous MLB season, Wheeler surpassed this figure in 27 of his 33 starts. Harrelson notes Underdog as the only platform offering this prop at the time, signaling great value.