It’s Friday, which means we’ve got a full slate of MLB action on tap for tonight. That also means there’s literally thousands of baseball bets and props to sort through on the DraftKings Sportsbook. Who has time for that, right?
I do. I have time for that. Let’s break down a couple of my favorites.
MLB Bets Bets: Tampa Bay Rays at New York Yankees
Under 8.5 (-110)
In all honesty, the route here might just be to take the Yankees on the run line. I simply do not think the Rays are going to be able to put up runs on Friday. While few teams have utilized platoons to greater success than Tampa Bay over the past decade, the Rays basically have two teams in 2025. There’s the lineup against right-handed pitching that smashes baseballs and there’s the lineup against left-handed pitching that’s struggled like crazy.
To wit, Tampa is slashing a putrid .197/.280/.294 with a 72 wRC+ versus southpaws so far this season. That’s how you run into a situation like we saw on Wednesday, where a rookie LHP making his MLB debut takes a no-hitter into the seventh inning. They won’t be facing a rookie tonight. Instead, it’ll be one of the best left-handers in MLB: Max Fried. New York’s newest ace has been phenomenal since putting on the pinstripes, with Fried in possession of a 1.19 ERA and a 2.95 FIP in his first six starts with the team. That’s five earned runs allowed over 37.2 innings. Not too shabby.
On the other side, Ryan Pepiot will take the mound for the Rays. The RHP has had his issues keeping the ball in the park so far in 2025, but Pepiot also pitched to a 3.60 ERA and a 3.62 xERA in 2024. He’s a perfectly decent MLB starter and I have faith that he won’t absolutely implode this evening in the Bronx. It certainly helps matters that the Yankees had to place Jazz Chisholm on the IL this morning. His absence substantially weakens the back-half of New York’s lineup.
MLB Best Bets: Detroit Tigers at Los Angeles Angels
Total Strikeouts Thrown Over 19.5 (+100)
To be blunt, these two teams just don’t make a lot of contact.
Coming into Friday, both the Angels (26.3%) and the Tigers (24.1%) possess a team strikeout rate that ranks inside the top five in all of baseball. Los Angeles has been particularly whiff-happy in recent weeks, owning the league’s highest strikeout rate by a wide margin across the past 14 days (29.3%). Could the Angels strike out 20 times by themselves tonight? It’s very unlikely, but Tarik Skubal is on the mound for Detroit.
Among starters with at least 300 innings thrown since the beginning of 2023, Skubal owns the highest individual strikeout rate at a whopping 30.8%. There’s a very good chance that he’ll be looking at double-digit strikeouts in this matchup, which certainly lessens the pressure on Jose Soriano or any other person that takes the mound at Angel Stadium. Soriano’s high velocity hasn’t always translated into opponent swings and misses, though the right-hander did rack up a season-high nine strikeouts back on April 4. He has the capability to heavily contribute to this prop.
