The abbreviated 2020 MLB betting season kicks off in earnest on Thursday night with a potential World Series preview between the New York Yankees and defending champion Washington Nationals. All eyes will be on Gerrit Cole as he makes his first start in pinstripes after signing a historic $324M dollar deal in the offseason to be the Bronx Bombers staff ace. His opponent will be Max Scherzer who just so happened to sign the biggest deal for a pitcher back in 2015 for a measly $210M. In other words, a ton of money will take to the starting bump in the season opener, but just how long will each staff ace get to strut their stuff with inning allotments unknown in this crazy 60 game trek towards the playoffs?
First pitch for the game between the New York Yankees and Washington Nationals is scheduled for Thursday, July 23, 2020, at 7:08 p.m. ET at Nationals Park. The matchup will be shown live on ESPN. You can bet on MLB odds at BookMaker.eu every day of the season.
MLB Betting Odds
New York Yankees -141
Washington Nationals +127
Total: 7.5
Odds Analysis
Sharp money has remained far away from this game with experienced MLB bettors looking to get a feel for how games play out early on before getting their feet wet. The same can’t be said for public bettors who’ve had no issue laying the road chalk with the visiting Yankees. Even so, the betting line has remained around online sportsbooks’ -140 opener. Surprisingly, the over has received 60 percent of the bets regardless of the fact that two of the league’s best starting pitchers are toeing the bump. For some reason, total bettors expect the bats to be ahead of the arms in the early going. Either that or they’re buying way too much into Max Scherzer’s last exhibition start when he got roughed up by the Phillies for six hits (2 HR) and 7 ER through his five innings of work.
Probable Pitchers
How Cole lost out on the AL Cy Young a season ago to teammate Justin Verlander is beyond me! The righty was nothing if not sensational in going 20-5 with a miniscule 2.50 ERA and impressive 13.8 K/9 ratio; the best of his career. His last two seasons are the main reasons why he inked the most lucrative deal a starting pitcher was ever granted in the history of MLB this past offseason. The Nats expected 1-5 hitters are a combined 11/36 with 8 Ks and 1 extra base hit against him lifetime. This will however be the first time he opposes Juan Soto. Regardless, Cole will hold the upper hand on Thursday night even with a 1-2 record and career 4.41 ERA to his credit through three Nationals Park starts. Look for the first pitcher taken off the board in fantasy baseball drafts to live up to the billing for as many innings Aaron Boone decides to let him go.
Mad Max looked mortal a short season ago. Though he still pitched to a stellar 2.92 ERA and accrued the best K/9 ratio of his career (12.7), the righty still conceded 144 hits in just over 172 innings of work and pitched to a WHIP north of 1.00 for the first time since coming over from the American League back in 2014. Is the luster starting to wear out for the former Cy Young Award winner? Have all those innings racked up on his arm started to take a toll? He failed to log 200+ innings last year due to injury, and got beaten up a number of times. He failed to go six innings in four of his six postseason starts as well. Though he’s had ample time to recover from Washington’s World Series title run, it remains to be seen if his stuff is still lights out. New York’s unforgiving batting lineup will be a huge test right out of the chute.
MLB Betting Trends
The Nationals check in 5-1 in their last six series openers as well as 9-3 in their last 12 interleague matchups. They’ve also gone a bankroll boosting 19-7 the last 26 times a right-hander opposed them. However, the offense is now without Anthony Rendon’s patient bat in the middle of the order, so it will be interesting to see how the new-look batting lineup fares against Cole’s arsenal; there’s a ton of swing-and-miss 1-9 and that bodes terribly with NY’s staff ace on the bump. On the flipside, the Yankees stand 57-24 the last 81 times oddsmakers installed them favorites, but just 3-7 the last 10 times they played away from the Bronx.
MLB Pick
Though Scherzer has looked human of late, I can’t help but think he rises to the challenge and allows for his teammates to stick close for as long as he’s in the game. Even so, it won’t be enough. Regardless of how well the Nats bullpen performed in the playoffs last season, I still believe it to be the weak link of the roster even after signing Will Harris in the offseason. Once Mad Max departs, you can expect the potent sticks of Aaron Judge, Gleyber Torres, Gary Sanchez and Giancarlo Stanton to take advantage. New York simply just owns the better overall team, and that’s reflected in the current odds to win the World Series and American League. It’ll be close early on, but the Yankees will pull away late and likely cover the run-line in the process once Washington’s pen gets involved.
MLB Odds: Yankees 6, Nationals 2
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