MVP Candidate Juan Soto Returns to San Diego
Yankees vs Padres Betting are Tight with New York's Return to SD

Can Red-Hot Yu Darvish Slow Down the American League-Leading Yankees?
Just a few eyes will be on New York Yankees outfielder Juan Soto as he returns to Petco Field for the first time since being traded by the San Diego Padres. The Yankees vs Padres betting odds have the visiting Yankees as a slight favorite in the series opener at -115 on the moneyline.
This is the first time the Yankees will play at San Diego since 2016. They also haven’t won a series on the road against the Padres since 2002. The teams have split the last 10 meetings with six of those games going under the total.
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The MLB betting line has the Yankees at -115 according to the MLB odds to win Friday’s series opener with +155 odds to cover at -1.5 on the run line. The Padres have -105 odds in Friday’s matchup. The Yankees (-120) are favored in the series odds against the Padres (-110).
The Yankees lead all MLB American League teams with +600 odds of winning the World Series with the Padres tied for sixth at +5000 in the championship odds among MLB National League teams.
After finishing the series with the Padres, the New York Yankees schedule won’t have New York facing a team with a winning record in the next two series.
Yankees vs Padres 
🧢Matchup: New York Yankees 35-17 at San Diego Padres 27-26
📅Date/Time: Friday-Saturday, 9:40 p.m. ET
📍Location: Petco Park, San Diego, CA
📺TV & Live Stream: YES, San Diego Padres Network
Yankees vs Padres Probable Starting Pitchers
- Friday: Carlos Rodon (Yankees); Yu Darvish (Padres)
- Saturday: Marcus Stroman (Yankees); Dylan Cease (Padres)
- Sunday: Clarke Schmidt (Yankees); Joe Musgrove (Padres)
Revisiting the Juan Soto Trade
What better time to take a look back at the deal that saw outfielder Juan Soto become a member of the New York Yankees than right now as Soto heads back to San Diego as a member of the visiting team?
Soto is the front-runner in the MLB American League Most Valuable Player race with a .312 batting average, 13 home runs, 41 RBIs, and a .409 slugging percentage. He is one of the reasons why the Yankees vs Padres betting odds favor the visiting Yankees.
Pitchers Michael King, Jhony Brito, and Randy Vasquez, minor-league pitcher Drew Thorpe, and catcher Kyle Higashioka were sent to the Padres in the deal.
Higashioka has played in just 15 games and he is batting .140. King has slowed down after a strong start as he is 4-4 with a 4.28 ERA. Brito has a 3.96 ERA in 16 games out of the bullpen while Vasquez is 0-3 with an ERA of 5.82. Thorpe was part of the deal that sent Dylan Cease from the Chicago White Sox to the Padres.
The Yankees have won 11 of their last 16 games against National League teams.
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— New York Yankees (@Yankees) May 24, 2024
Darvish Tossing Goose Eggs for the Padres
With the way that Shota Imanaga of the Chicago Cubs and Yoshinobu are pitching in their first MLB seasons after successful runs in Japan, it is easy to forget what an impact Yu Darvish made when he entered the majors with the Texas Rangers a dozen years ago.
Darvish went 29-18 in his first two MLB seasons with 498 strikeouts in 401 innings.
Injuries slowed Darvish down as he won just 40 games from 2016 to 2021 while pitching for four different franchises.
Darvish is off to a 4-1 start with a 2.08 ERA. He hasn’t allowed more than five hits in any of his first nine starts, That could factor into the Yankees vs Padres betting odds.
Five of San Diego’s last six games against American League teams went under the total.
Who’s Hot
- Luis Arraez, San Diego Padres IF: Arraez has eight consecutive multi-hit games. He is batting .526 with just one strikeout during that stretch.
- Yu Darvish, San Diego Padres P: Darvish has allowed eight hits and no runs with 24 innings over his last 24 innings.
- Aaron Judge, New York Yankees OF: Judge is hitting .444 with six home runs, 13 extra-base hits, 14 runs, and nine RBIs in his last 11 games.
- Clarke Schmidt, New York Yankees P: Schmidt has surrendered eight hits and two runs with 20 strikeouts over 19.2 innings in his last three starts.
Who’s Not
- Dylan Cease, San Diego Padres P: Cease has allowed 14 hits, three home runs, and eight runs in 9.2 innings in his last two starts.
- Kyle Higashioka, San Diego Padres C: Higashioka is 0-for-17 with five strikeouts in his last six games.
- Dennis Santana, New York Yankees P: Santana has given up five hits and five runs in three innings in his last three outings.
- Gleyber Torres, New York Yankees IF: Torres is 4-for-21 with seven strikeouts over his last six games.
Yankees vs Padres Injury Update
Catcher Jose Trevino is questionable for the Yankees while pitcher Ian Hamilton is on the COVID-19 list. Infielder DJ LeMahieu continues to be sidelined.
Pitchers Glenn Otto and Drew Carlton are on the MLB injured list for the Padres while infielder Justin Lopez is day-to-day.
Yankees vs Padres Betting Preview
The Yankees have hit 17 more home runs and scored 17 more runs in May than the Padres. When looking at the MLB team stats, San Diego is batting just .226 at home this season.
The Yankees have won five of their last six road games and are 5-2 in the last seven matchups with the Padres.
Four of the last six times that the Yankees played in San Diego, the game landed over the total.
The total has gone over in four of the last five games for the Yankees while seven of San Diego’s last 10 games went over the total. The total is set at 7.5 in the series opener. That might be a challenge to go over that mark with veterans Rodon and Darvish pitching on Friday.
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