On Thursday afternoon, the New York Yankees kick off the day’s MLB slate with a 12:35 p.m. EST first pitch against the visiting Texas Rangers. The Bronx Bombers downed their opponent 5-2 in the first game of this series before rallying to win 4-3 in the ninth inning of game two. Now, they look to complete the sweep and protect their fairly slim AL East lead, while Texas tries to push further up in their fight to climb the AL West rankings.
Here’s a Yankees vs. Rangers prediction and pick for the afternoon action.
Yankees vs. Rangers prediction, preview
The Yankees sit atop the AL East leaderboard thanks to one of the MLB’s hardest-hitting offenses. New York ranks fifth in the league in team AVG with the top OBP along with the second-best SLG and OPS. They score more than almost anyone with the third-most runs and RBIs, and perhaps the most fun stat of all, they swing for the fences with an MLB-leading 82 home runs.
Somehow, Paul Goldschmidt’s .339 AVG isn’t a team-best — Aaron Judge looks like New York and the MLB’s best batter with an unbelievable .399 AVG to go along with 16 home runs, putting him second in long balls among all players. Trent Grisham and Cody Bellinger fall third and fourth on the team in AVG at .268 and .265, plus eight and 12 homers, respectively.
As for the Rangers, the 2023 World Series champions struggled greatly over the season’s opening weeks but have finally come around a bit recently with a few more wins. The good news is that the pitching staff has limited opponents to the second-fewest hits and fourth-fewest runs over the last 15 days as their arms do enough to stay above .500. However, the batting still isn’t clicking. Texas sits bottom-six in most offensive stat categories as a team, a trend which hasn’t changed lately even after replacing their hitting coach.
Corey Seager leads the Rangers with a .300 average and .880 OPS, followed by a couple of Joshes just cuttin’ it up — Josh Jung and Josh Smith both hit in the .280 range. Jonah Heim also comes in at .268, but elsewhere, the lineup continues to falter, especially Marcus Semien and Joc Pederson batting .178 and .127. If this team has playoff aspirations, those guys must turn it around.
Yankees vs. Rangers pick, best bet
The Yankees are favored on DraftKings Sportsbook with -162 Moneyline odds, while the Rangers come in at +136 themselves.
New York’s projected starter Carlos Rodon has a 3.72 ERA and impressive 0.99 WHIP with 72 strikeouts this season as he shows signs of his peak days from when he was in Chicago. The left is dealing right now, and the Rangers probably will struggle to put the ball in play against the former All-Star.
Somehow, Rodon isn’t the best pitcher in this game. Nathan Eovaldi projects to start for Texas, and with a 1.61 ERA and 0.77 WHIP alongside 65 punchouts, the right-hander is absolutely deadly on the bump this season.
I do think the Yankees may have some issues hitting off Eovaldi, but once he’s out of the game, the entire story changes. With a high-powered batting order and a great thrower of their own on the mound, I like Yankees -1.5 at +140 odds.
