New York At Tampa Bay Baseball Betting Preview

After what has seemed like an impossibly long time, the 2017 MLB season is ready to go, and it all begins in Florida, with the New York Yankees playing an AL East division game versus the Tampa Bay Rays. Both of these teams are looking to bounce back from disappointing seasons last year, but the reality is that only one of them probably has any chance of doing so. The general consensus heading into the season is that the Boston Red Sox are the team to beat in the division, although there are those who believe that they are a bit of a fragile bunch, and that perhaps the Yankees can take advantage of that. The Yankees at least had a winning record last season, while the Tampa Bays have a big ship to turn around, going just 68-94 in 2016. In the grand scheme of things, this game won’t mean much, but getting off to a positive start is likely to be important for both teams. Find the latest MLB betting run lines here.

New York Yankees At Tampa Bay Rays Baseball Betting Preview

When: Sunday, April 2 at 1 PM EST Where: Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg Pitchers: Masahiro Tanaka Vs Chis Archer TV: ESPN Radio: WFAN and WDAE Live Stream: Watch ESPN MLB Odds: TBA    

Why bet on the New York Yankees

You never want to put too much stock in what goes on in spring training, but there appears to be an air of genuine optimism around this Yankees team, as they went 24-8 in Grapefruit League play. Unlike Yankees teams of recent years, this is a group that is going to feature a lot of younger guys, so it’s going to be interesting to see how they gel, and how they react to the grind of a 162-game regular season. Masahiro Tanaka will be on the mound for the Yankees on Saturday. He finished last season with a 14-4 record and a 3.07 ERA. He had 3 starts against the Rays last season, and it was the Yankees who won each of those games by a combined score of 24-10.

Why bet on the Tampa Bay Rays

There are a lot of people who will suggest that Tampa’s 2016 record was actually not as bad as it appears. They played a lot of tight games, and ended up playing in 40 games that were decided by a single run, with their record in those outings coming in at 13-27. If they play a similar style and flip the outcome on its head, it stands to reason that they will definitely have an improved overall record. The Rays are going to be looking to Chris Archer to win the majority of his starts, or at least keep them close. Archer went 9-19 last season with a 4.02 ERA. He started to put his game together in the second half last season, and has looked very sharp in spring training.

Expert Pick and Final Score Prediction

Always tough to predict how things are going to go in the first game of the season, but since that’s my job, I’m going to take the Yankees to win on the road.

New York Yankees 5 Tampa Bay Rays 3