Baseball is faster than ever with the implementation of the pitch clock, but DraftKings Sportsbook also has a market for those who still can’t wait 2.5 hours for results. NRFI bets (No Run First Inning) are exactly what they sound like. They give the bettor the ability to wager specifically on the outcome of a game’s opening frame. Will either team score a run? Yes or no? It’s that simple.
With that in mind, here are my top three NRFI picks for Saturday night’s full slate of MLB action.
White Sox at Royals NRFI (-105)
The White Sox and Royals face off in Kansas City this afternoon after splitting the first two games of their four-game series. The White Sox won the first game 2-0, and the Royals won 2-0 on Friday, with runs hard to come by in general and no runs in the first inning of either game. The White Sox have hit NRFI in half of their 14 games, while NRFI has hit in 10 of the first 14 games for the Royals.
The home team will give the ball to Michael Wacha, who is off to a strong start this season with a 0.69 ERA through his first two starts. He has not allowed a run in the first inning of his last four starts and has a 73.1% NRFI rate in his career, which is well above average. He’ll be matched up against White Sox starter Erick Fedde, who has a 4.09 ERA in his two starts, but he is on a run of four straight games without a run in the first inning.
With neither offense going off so far this season and two solid starters, this is a great NRFI at only -105.
Guardians at Braves NRFI (-130)
The Guardians have been one of the best NRFI targets this season, hitting NRFI in 11 of their 14 games (tied for second-best in baseball). The Braves have only hit six of their 14 games, but the pitching matchup tilts this toward NRFI being a good option at these odds.
It’s a matchup of southpaws, as Martin Perez takes the ball for the Braves against Parker Messick of the Guardians. Perez was strong in his first outing this year, going 4 1/3 scoreless innings, but he was knocked around by the D-Backs in his most recent start, giving up four runs in five innings, including one in the first. Perez will have the advantage of working against the Guardians’ lineup, which leans heavily left-handed.
Messick will have a tougher task of shutting down the Braves in the first, including Ronald Acuna Jr. and Matt Olson, who both went yard on Friday. Messick has not allowed a run in the first inning of either of his two starts this season and has only given up one run total in 11 innings.
The weather in Atlanta is pretty neutral overall, although it will be nice and warm with temps near 80. The Guardians have been very strong NRFI options this year, and since I trust Messick enough to keep the Braves down, I like the value at -130 for this prop.
Rangers at Dodgers NRFI (-110)
We’ll close out our NRFI plays for the day with the late game at Dodger Stadium, where young starters Jack Leiter and Emmet Sheehan square off in the nightcap.
Picking against the Dodgers scoring always feels risky, but they’ve actually been very strong NRFI plays, hitting in nine of their 13 games. The Rangers have hit NRFI in seven of their 13 games, including each of their last two.
Sheehan had an excellent finish to last year and strong spring training but has stumbled a bit early in the year, giving up eight runs in nine innings over his first two starts. He hit NRFI in his first outing but the Nats got to him for three runs in his last time out. He’ll look for better results back at home on Saturday night, after he settled down to still get the win in that start in Washington.
Shutting down the Dodgers will be a tough task for Jack Leiter, but the high draft pick is off to a strong start this year, with just three runs allowed in 11 innings. Leiter has allowed a first-inning run in 30% of his starts in his career, which is just about league average. However, since he’s been so effective overall in his two starts, he has a strong chance to deliver a clean inning to start this matchup.
Both lineups have plenty of power options that can spoil NRFI with a single swing, but the starters have been solid enough and have enough upside to include this NRFI prop at just about even money to close out Saturday’s slate.
