Happy Friday! We have a full slate of Major League Baseball games that span most of the day. We’ll just enjoy the afternoon game at Wrigley Field before diving into action for the night games. There’s no need to drag this out; let’s get to some Friday Night lines.
This time around, the odds come from DraftKings.
Now that the Yankees’ bats have awakened from their temporary slumber, I like this spot for the offense. They were shut out in five innings by Tomoyuki Sugano the first time they saw him, but he was a totally unknown quantity. Now that they’ve had a look, it’ll be a bit easier. He doesn’t have overpowering stuff and generally pitches to contact, leaving openings for a big Yankees inning or two. Plus, he’s given up seven runs on 14 hits in nine innings in his last two starts.
On the other side, the Yankees start ace lefty Max Fried. He has loved Yankee Stadium to the tune of a 1.45 ERA this season in seven starts. The Orioles are one of the worst teams in baseball against lefties, too, slashing just .214/.288/.300 against southpaws this season.
Simply, this lines up for an early, multi-run Yankees lead that they’ll hold to the end.
It’s difficult for me to wrap my head around this line. Gallen has only gone over 5.5 strikeouts in five out of 15 starts this season. He has a 5.19 ERA (suggesting he won’t last long, generally, in starts). He averages 5.4 strikeouts per start, but there’s one outlier (13 strikeouts on April 2) doing some serious heavy lifting there. He faced the Rockies just over a month ago on May 17 in Arizona and recorded five strikeouts. This time around, he’s in Coors Field, where the thin air kills a lot of the spin on breaking balls. The Rockies are feeling good, too, having won four of five and scored 32 runs in those five games.
It’s just really hard for me to see Gallen getting to six strikeouts and we get plus money on it.
George Steinbrenner Field in Tampa has been one of the best home run parks in the majors this season and the Tigers are playing the Rays there Friday evening. Die-hard fans know this all too well, but remember that this ballpark has the same dimensions as Yankee Stadium, namely that short right-field porch. It’s going to be hot and humid during the game, too.
Shane Baz, a righty, takes the mound for the Rays. He’s given up 13 homers in 77 ⅓ innings this season.
Add everything up and I want to grab a Tigers’ lefty. Hello, Riley Greene. He has 15 homers this season, nine of which came on the road.
Futures play: Kade Anderson goes No. 1 in draft (+230)
The first round of the 2025 MLB draft takes place Sunday, July 13. The betting favorite to get drafted first overall is Ethan Holliday and that isn’t a huge surprise given the major-league pedigree in his bloodlines. His father is Matt Holliday — not a Hall of Famer, but a strong “Hall of the Very Good” type — and older brother Jackson went first overall a few years back and currently plays for the Orioles.
Anderson, though, is out of LSU and could be fast-tracked to the majors. The Nationals hold the top overall pick and arguably need pitching prospects more than hitters at this point and should be shedding this rebuild to get back to contention awfully quick. My colleague R.J. Anderson mentioned that he’s heard a few evaluators who believe Kade Anderson here is the top pick and that’s good enough for me to ride.
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