Baseball is faster than ever with the implementation of the pitch clock, but the 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 two NRFI picks for Tuesday’s full slate of MLB action.
| NRFI Bet Today | Odds | Why I Like the Pick |
| White Sox at Guardians | -110 | Davis Martin comes into Thursday’s start in possession of a 3.00 ERA and a 2.92 FIP — the sixth-lowest qualified mark in MLB. Meanwhile, Slade Cecconi has pitched to a 1.88 ERA and a 1.08 WHIP over his past five starts after greatly lessening his fastball usage. |
| Cardinals at Braves | -110 | The Braves have been struggling for awhile now, sitting dead-last in batting average (.212), ISO (.117) and wRC+ (65) over the past 30 days. Not to be outdone, the Cardinals are slashing .159/.220/.232 with a 29 wRC+ across the past week. Dustin May and Hurston Waldrep should take advantage. |
Chicago White Sox at Cleveland Guardians NRFI (-110)
This is a sneaky good pitching matchup. On the one side, you’ve got Davis Martin, who is the ace of the White Sox’s staff at the moment. The right-hander comes into Thursday’s start in possession of a 3.00 ERA and a 2.92 FIP — the sixth-lowest qualified mark in MLB. Martin’s formula for success is pretty simple: Avoid barrels and free passes. In fact, Martin’s opponent barrel rate and walk rate are both 6.3% for the season. He should be able to continue his breakout campaign against a struggling Guardians lineup. Over the past 30 days, Cleveland ranks dead-last in expected wOBA (.277) and second-last in wRC+ (80).
Then there’s Slade Cecconi. The right-hander’s full-season numbers aren’t as sparkling as Martin’s, but Cecconi is directly on the heels of a fantastic month of June. In his past five starts, Cecconi has pitched to a 1.88 ERA and a 1.08 WHIP. Yes, there’s some BABIP luck involved in this sample, but the most important aspect of this recent success is that it’s not without a tangible change in the RHP’s approach on the mound. Opponents have been clobbering Cecconi’s fastball in 2026 — so he’s stopped throwing the offering as often. What a concept. Cecconi’s fastball usage has been under 20% in each of his last five outings. Heck, it’s been under 15% in his last two. It’s probably not a coincidence that he threw six shutout innings against the Mariners in his most recent appearance.
St. Louis Cardinals at Atlanta Braves NRFI (-110)
The offensive stats for these two squads over the past week look like a misprint. Seriously.
To be fair to the Braves, they’ve been struggling for awhile now, sitting dead-last in batting average (.212), ISO (.117) and wRC+ (65) over the past 30 days. Needless to say, they really miss Ronald Acuna Jr. (hamstring) and the 2022 version of Austin Riley. Still, the club has somehow taken things to another level in its past five games, slashing .171/.251/.228 as a team with a 36 wRC+. Not to be outdone, the Cardinals are slashing .159/.220/.232 with a 29 wRC+ across the same horrendous span. Jordan Walker doesn’t have a home run since June 13, which isn’t helping matters.
Let’s not overlook this pitching matchup, either. Dustin May will toe the rubber for St. Louis, and the hulking right-hander sports a 3.18 ERA and a 3.03 FIP since April 10 — even after giving up six earned runs in his last outing. On the Braves side, Hurston Waldrep will make his first start of 2026 after coming back from right elbow surgery in February. However in 2025, the former first-round pick maintained a 2.88 ERA and a 3.21 FIP over 56.1 innings of work. He’s good.
