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The Yankees make the trip to Tampa Bay to face the Rays! These two teams are playing differently with the Yankees being one of the best teams in the MLB, while the Rays have struggled to find consistency this season. Both teams have struggled leading into this series. Our MLB odds series has our Yankees-Rays prediction, odds, and pick for Wednesday.
Yankees-Rays Projected Starters
Marcus Stroman vs. Zach Eflin
Marcus Stroman (7-4) with a 3.58 ERA and a 1.29 WHIP
Last Start: Pitched five innings and gave up five runs on five hits with two walks and six strikeouts in a Yankees loss.
2024 Road Splits: (5-1) 2.54 ERA
Zach Eflin (5-5) with a 4.19 ERA and a 1.15 WHIP
Last Start: Pitched five innings and gave up six runs on seven hits with one walk and three strikeouts in a Rays win.
2024 Home Splits: (3-1) 2.43 ERA
Here are the MLB Odds, courtesy of FanDuel.
MLB Odds: Yankees-Rays Odds
New York Yankees: -1.5 (+146)
Moneyline: -116
Tampa Bay Rays: +1.5 (-176)
Moneyline: -102
Over: 8 (-105)
Under: 8 (-115)
How to Watch Yankees vs. Rays
Time: 6:50 pm ET
Article Continues Below
TV: Bally Sports TV / YES Network
Stream: fuboTV (Click for free trial)
Why The Yankees Will Cover The Spread/Win
The Yankees have been one of the best teams in the MLB and they have a 55-37 record. They have lost five out of their last six games leading into this series. Their bats and pitching have been great this whole season. Juan Soto is a huge difference maker and an MVP-caliber player who was added to go with Anthony Rizzo, Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, Anthony Rizzo, and Anthony Volpe behind the plate. Nestor Cortes, Marcus Stroman, Clarke Schmidt, Luis Gil, and Carlos Rodon have all been at varying levels of at least good if not great on the mound in New York.
The Yankees are starting Marcus Stroman on the mound where he has a 7-4 record, a 3.58 ERA, and a 1.29 WHIP. Stroman has allowed 44 runs on 85 hits with 45 walks and 76 strikeouts through 100.2 innings. He has started in 18 games and the Yankees have gone 12-6 in those games. Stroman has had a solid season so far on the mound and he gets a favorable matchup against a struggling Rays offense.
The biggest key for the Yankees is their offense. They are ranked 10th in the MLB currently in team batting average at .248 which is a massive improvement after struggling to .227 last season. Aaron Judge and Juan Soto lead the way in almost every batting category. Judge leads in batting average at .308, in home runs at 32, in RBI at 83, and in total hits at 100. Finally, Soto leads in OBP at .430. This offense has cooled off a bit, and they get an interesting matchup against Zach Eflin on the mound for the Rays. Eflin has been the epitome of inconsistency for the Rays.
Why The Rays Will Cover The Spread/Win
The Rays have been inconsistent this season, and currently sit with a 44-46 record. They have lost four out of their last five games and three straight leading into this series. The Rays are below average on offense and then are in the bottom half of the MLB in pitching. This play on both sides of the ball is why they have struggled to find consistency as a team. Isaac Paredes, Amed Rosario, Yandy Diaz, Harold Ramirez, Jose Caballero, and Randy Arozarena have been solid for the Rays offense. On the mound, Zach Eflin and Zack Littell have been solid for a unit that has not been great this season.
The Rays are starting Zach Eflin on the mound where he has a 5-5 record, a 4.19 ERA, and a 1.15 WHIP. He has allowed 46 runs on 98 hits with eight walks and 72 strikeouts through 92.1 innings. The Rays are also 10-6 in the 16 games that he has started, so far this season. Eflin has been solid at best this season, but has had issues with consistency. He has a massive challenge in this game against the Yankees and how well their offense has been playing.
The offense for the Rays has struggled this season behind the plate. They are 21st in team-batting average at .235 after finishing with a .260 last season. Isaac Paredes and Yandy Diaz lead the way in most batting categories. Paredes leads in home runs at 14, in RBI at 47, and in OBP at .358. Diaz then leads in .270 batting average and in total hits at 96. This is a difficult matchup against Marcus Stroman on the mound because he has been solid for the Yankees and can shut down this offense.
Final Yankees-Rays Prediction & Pick
The Yankees are the better team in this game. They easily have the better offense and then Stroman is playing better than Eflin as a pitcher this year. Neither team has much momentum right now and has been struggling recently. In that case, bank on a pitching duel, and with that the Rays should cover at home and keep things close.
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Final Yankees-Rays Prediction & Pick: Rays +1.5 (-176)
