Every MLB team once again takes the field on Monday as part of a jam-packed slate. In the earlier portion of the schedule, the New York Yankees host the Tampa Bay Rays to kick off a four-game series between AL East rivals. As the trade deadline approaches, both of these teams are struggling as they fight to stay afloat in the division standings, so there’s much at stake over the coming days.
Here’s a Yankees vs. Rays prediction and pick on DraftKings Sportsbook for Monday’s action.
Yankees vs. Rays prediction, preview
Did anyone foresee the Toronto Blue Jays sitting out front in the AL East by a 5.5-game margin? The Yankees held the division for much of the 2025 campaign but have faltered this month and fallen to second place in the division at 57-48 while going just 4-5 since the All-Star break. The Rays have seen a similar drop in the division standings at 53-53 overall and 3-6 since the season resumed, so both of these teams actually have some serious Wild Card implications on the line in this series. With the trade deadline approaching on July 31, a couple of losses could even shift Tampa Bay closer to seller status if they don’t believe they can work back up the division standings.
The biggest story to watch tonight will be how the Yankees fare without superstar slugger Aaron Judge in the lineup after he went on IL over the weekend. New York suffered a 9-4 loss but bounced back with a 4-3 win on Sunday, but it’s still quite difficult to replace a multi-time MVP’s production in the lineup. The Rays do have a couple injuries of their own as Brandon Lowe and Ha-Seong Kim both remain sidelined as well.
Both of these offenses rank top-10 in batting average and runs scored this season, though the Rays are behind the Yankees in most stat categories — especially homers, which New York leads the MLB in thanks to 168 blasts, 53 more than Tampa Bay. Neither offense looks particularly hot since returning from the All-Star period though with each side batting .228 or below and a three-run difference in run production.
Yankees vs. Rays pick, best bet
DraftKings Sportsbook lists the Yankees as a -132 favorite on the Moneyline at home while the Rays come in as +108 underdogs to win outright. The run total sits at 8.5 for this outing.
Rookie right-hander Cam Schlittler (4.35 ERA, 1.55 WHIP, 10 SO) starts for New York with a very limited sample of 10.1 major-league innings to his name. He faces an experienced hurler in Tampa Bay righty Drew Rasmussen (2.93 ERA, 1.03 WHIP, 82 SO) who’s in the midst of a quiet but quite impressive campaign.
Here’s the deal, though. Rasmussen hasn’t gone even five innings since June 25. In his four starts since then, he pitched just 3.0, 2.0, 2.0 and 4.0 innings. He did play very well in all but one, but it’s difficult to tell whether he’ll end up with a longer leash tonight. Against a talented Yankees lineup, he may also get chased from this contest if he falters early on. With that in mind, I’m targeting under 14.5 outs recorded at +145 odds in this one for Rasmussen.
Best bet: Drew Rasmussen under 14.5 outs recorded (+145)
Click the odds on these bets to tail!
