Phillies vs Astros Preview: Pitching Matchup and Props for Sept. 10

The Philadelphia Phillies will attempt to win their series with the Houston Astros on Thursday, Sept. 10, sending right-hander Zack Wheeler to the mound at 1:05 p.m. Houston (74-72) will counter with Cristian Javier, who struggled with a shoulder injury earlier this year but put together one of his best starts of the season his last time out.

The Phillies (82-64) rode a Kyle Schwarber grand slam to victory the day prior. They’ll deal with temperatures in the mid-80s in the series finale: partly cloudy skies will limit some of the afternoon heat, but humidity around 65 percent will make for oppressive conditions. The forecast expects an eight mile per hour cross-breeze out of the west, and gusts up to 16 miles per hour should help stir the air to some degree.

NBC Sports, as per usual, will carry the broadcast for the home team.

Pitching Matchup

The Phillies have a .222 career batting average (10-for-45) against Javier (5.98 ERA, 49.2 innings pitched, 1.55 WHIP and 9.06 K/9), striking out 16 times in 48 plate appearances (33.3 percent). Brandon Marsh (5-for-11 with two doubles) has done the majority of the damage against the Astros’ righty; Alec Bohm (1-for-5) and J.T. Realmuto (2-for-4) also have doubles, the Phillies only extra base hits. Kyle Schwarber is 0-for-7 with three strikeouts, and Bryson Stott is 0-for-5.

The Astros have seen Wheeler (3.23 ERA, 136.1 innings pitched, 1.08 WHIP and 10.76 K/9) well historically, batting .293 (27-for-92), but they have just one home run in that span. Most of the offense comes from Christian Walker (10-for-26 with four doubles and a homer), who spent the majority of his career in the National League.

Yordan Alvarez (4-for-8 with two doubles) is another player to watch, and LaMonte Wade Jr. (4-for-6 with a walk) gets on base at a healthy clip in limited opportunities. The rest of Houston’s lineup is 9-for-52 (.173 batting average) against Wheeler, and they strike out 25 percent of the time. That’s below Wheeler’s career rate, so view his strikeout prop with caution: hitters with consistent success like Marsh, Walker and Alvarez are worth watching for total bases props.