Best MLB hits allowed matchups — Thursday, July 9, 2026
Every starting pitcher on the Thursday, July 9, 2026 slate — ranked by the fewest hits they're projected to allow. Results show how each call played out.
How the model did — Thursday, July 9, 2026
Our top 5 starts went 1/3 (33%) on our hits-allowed over/under, against 51% on the season.
Top 5
1/333%
season 51%
Top 10
4/757%
season 48%
Full slate
9/2339%
season 49%
Top call Logan Henderson came through. Griffin Canning didn't.
Each starting pitcher below carries a 0–100 matchup score — a read on the spot in front of him, not a ranking of how good he is, so a star in a brutal matchup can sit below an average starting pitcher in a soft one. Confidence next to it is coverage: how much real data backs the number. Every call here was graded against the box score — wins and misses both, with the record on this page. How this board is built →
Share of our top-ranked starts that hit our hits-allowed over/under, next to the season-to-date rate.
Top 5
1/333%
season 51%-18 pts-12% ROI
Top 10
4/757%
season 48%+9 pts-14% ROI
Top 20
8/1747%
season building
Top 50
9/2339%
season building
Full slate
9/2339%
season 49%-10 pts-13% ROI
“Hit” is the green check on the card — our hits-allowed over/under. Pools are our pre-game top-ranked matchups; only settled (final) outcomes count. Season-to-date is every graded day this season.
Best MLB Hits Allowed Matchups — Thursday, July 9, 2026
Paul Blackburn (NYY) leads the Thursday, July 9, 2026 board at 100, projected for about 2.3 H is tonight's toughest arm to square up. Logan Henderson (MIL) is next at 100. Hits-allowed is a contact-management market — this board reads which starters face lineups that can't find the barrel.
Top spot: Paul Blackburn
Paul Blackburn (NYY) draws the softest contact matchup on the board — around 2.3 H projected against TB. Suppressing hits is half stuff, half circumstance: whiffs mean fewer balls in play, and this defense-and-park combination decides what happens to the rest.
The rest of the top of the board
Logan Henderson (MIL) (100) — about 4.1 H vs STL.
Griffin Canning (SD) (100) — about 4.3 H vs AZ.
José Suarez (ATH) (100) — about 2.4 H vs DET.
Ryan Feltner (COL) (72) — about 4.8 H vs SF.
Gavin Williams (CLE) (65) — about 4.8 H vs MIN.
How it played out
The top 10 starts averaged 4.6 H. Paul Blackburn finished with 2. Every projection is graded against the box score.
Hits allowed is where luck lives — and where it doesn't
Once a ball is in play, roughly three in ten fall for hits league-wide, and no pitcher fully controls which three. What an arm does control: how many balls get put in play at all (whiff arms simply allow fewer hits), what kind of contact he gives up, and which half of the platoon he's exposed to. What he doesn't: his defense's range and his park's alleys. The model scores the controllable parts against tonight's specific lineup and lets the season-long noise wash out — which is exactly why a good hits-allowed spot and a good ERA aren't the same claim.
How to read the hits allowed board
The 0–100 score reads how hard tonight's lineup figures to make contact against this arm, hand by hand, with the park folded in. The projection beside it is expected hits allowed for the start, set against the book's line (usually 4.5 or 5.5) where one is posted. Graded against the box score, hit or miss, like everything here.
The Hits Allowed board projects the contact a starter is likely to surrender. One statistical model scores every matchup on the slate the same way — a star and a backup judged on the matchup in front of them, not their name — and every number is graded against the real box score once the games go final.
How the model gets its number
It isn't a gut call or a name game. The projection is built from a few things:
His hit-suppression vs this lineup.
The park.
Projected batters faced.
Those pieces combine into one number, and the model re-tunes itself weekly against how its past calls actually landed.
Is there a betting edge here?
Graded transparency — the market prices it well. A sharp projection, no posted edge.
How to use it
Context on a starter's contact profile; research, not a lean.
Everything here is a research signal from the model, graded in public — not betting advice, and no outcome is guaranteed.
Which pitcher has the best hits allowed matchup today (Thursday, July 9, 2026)?
Paul Blackburn (NYY) — top of the board at 100, projected for about 2.3 H against TB.
What are the best pitcher hits allowed props today?
The top projected starts on Thursday, July 9, 2026: Paul Blackburn (~2.3 H), Logan Henderson (~4.1 H), Griffin Canning (~4.3 H), José Suarez (~2.4 H), Ryan Feltner (~4.8 H). The full board ranks every starter.
What's a normal hits-allowed line for a starter?
4.5 for most arms, 5.5 for durable pitch-to-contact types — it tracks expected length as much as stuff, since more innings means more balls in play. A short-leash strikeout arm can be a live under at 4.5 even without an elite matchup.
Why does the defense matter on a hits prop?
Because ~70% of balls in play get converted to outs by an average defense — and the spread between a good and bad one is real hits per game. The pitcher's job is the contact quality; the glove work behind him decides the margins.
How is the hits allowed score calculated?
Ranked by the fewest hits they're projected to allow — his hit-suppression, the lineup he faces, and how deep he goes. Scores are set 0–100 across the slate, with a projected hits allowed number alongside, and graded against the box score. The exact weighting is our own, tuned weekly against results.
Can I use this for pitcher props or DFS?
Yes — the board surfaces the best hits allowed spots and projects a number. Where there's a posted line we show the over/under and which side our projection leans. We show the data and grade it, not picks.
