DraftKings Sportsbook has a wide variety of props that give players various experiences with sweating out wins. You can hold some bets long-term that can last multiple weeks or even an entire season. Other bets, though, are set up to be quick hitters to boost your bankroll with quick wins that are either won or lost very quickly. That style of bets provides bettors short-term payouts, instant gratification, and time to flip their winnings into other contests. One of the most popular short-term bets during the summer is MLB NRFI bets. Let’s take a look at the 15 games on the schedule this Monday and find a few NRFI (no run first inning) prop bets to back.
On Monday, July 28, DraftKings Sportsbook also offered a Profit Boost Token to use on a 2+ leg NRFI/YRFI Parlay with minimum odds per leg of -200 or longer. If you’re looking for a way to use that token and level-up your winnings, these are my top MLB NRFI bets on the board. Here are all the starting pitcher matchups on the board for Monday night.
Atlanta Braves at Kansas City Royals (+100)
Apparently, there’s no respect for old guys out here in these streets! In this matchup, the Braves give the ball to Spencer Strider, while the Royals give the ball to the venerable Rich Hill. Getting this NRFI at even money is mostly because the public is not ready to back Hill.
The 45-year-old lefty made MLB history last week, pitching for his 14th team, tying Edwin Jackson’s record for most teams in a career. He wasn’t just here for the record, though, allowing just one earned run in five innings. He doesn’t have the stuff to stack up strikeouts anymore, but he still can work around trouble and be effective. Hill made 11 minor league starts before joining the Royals’ rotation, and he posted a 5.22 ERA and 5.05 xFIP in those outings.
If he can hold up his end of the bargain, Strider will likely be able to take care of the bottom of the first. In his 13 starts, he has not allowed a run in the first inning 10 times (77%), including each of his last two.
Both Strider and Hill are in pretty good spots, since the Braves have only scored in 31% of their first innings and the Royals in only 28% of their first innings this season. The Royals have hit NRFI in an MLB-high 62% of their games this season, so getting them at even money in any scenario is an unusual opportunity.
I trust Hill more than most to at least get through the first inning, and this NRFI prop really boosts any parlay it’s added into.
New York Mets at San Diego Padres (-110)
The red-hot Mets continue their West Coast trip with a stop at Petco Park to begin the week. The pitching matchup should be a solid one between veteran righties Frakie Montas and Dylan Cease. The Padres (57%) and Mets (59%) are both in the top eight in the league in highest NRFI percentage on the season, so it’s a little surprising to get this at just -110.
Cease will get the ball for the home team, and he did give up a run in the first inning in his most recent start. On the season, though, he has allowed no runs in the first inning in 15 of his 21 outings (71%).
Montas hasn’t allowed a run in the first inning of his last three starts, and has only given up a run one time all season in the first inning, giving him an 80% conversion rate of turning in a goose egg in the first inning.
Both teams are 5-5 in NRFI in their last 10 games, but their season-long trends are well over 50% for NRFI hitting in their games. While it may not be a low-scoring game overall, I think both Cease and Montas can get through the first inning unscathed.
Pittsburgh Pirates at San Francisco Giants (-135)
We started our MLB NRFI bets with a look at the oldest current player in Major League Baseball, and now we’ll turn to the opposite end of the spectrum for our final NRFI pick of the day.
Youngster Carson Whisenhunt will make his MLB debut for the Giants, after going 8-5 with a 4.42 ERA and 4.67 FIP in Triple-A in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League. Whisenhunt was a second-round pick in 2022 and is the team’s No. 3 prospect, according to MLB Pipeline.
Whisenhunt is a total wild card in his first MLB inning, but he at least gets a good landing spot against the Pirates, who have just a .270 wOBA against lefties and have not scored a run in the first inning in 73% of their games against lefties and 76% of their games overall.
He’ll be opposed by Mitch Keller in this game, who has held opponents scoreless in 76% (16 of 21) of his first innings this season. He hasn’t given up a first-inning run in six straight starts.
Both teams have hit NRFI in seven of their last 10 games, and this should be a good spot to finish out the day with another solid NRFI bet.
