Tampa Bay Rays at New York Yankees Series Preview and Odds
Rays Have To Get Going

Even though nine games separate them in the MLB standings, the Tampa Bay Rays and New York Yankees both have to get off to a good start after the All-Star break albeit for different reasons.
Tampa Bay is 5.5 games behind the Boston Red Sox for the third and final American League Wild Card spot while New York finished the first half with an atrocious loss and has seen its sizable AL East lead turn into a deficit. So, this weekend’s series between the two at Yankee Stadium, beginning on Friday, is critical.
- If you’re making Rays vs Yankees MLB picks, the Yankees are huge -192 moneyline favorites in the opener and +120 runline favorites. The total is eight runs.
Tampa Bay entered the break on a high, taking consecutive series from New York and Cleveland. However, the Rays’ season still has been very up and down which has resulted in them being right at .500.
They have hovered right around that mark for pretty much the entire year with a strong starting rotation balancing out an unproductive lineup and uncharacteristically weak bullpen.
Too many of the Rays’ key hitters have severely underperformed, most notably 2023 All-Star and 2020 ALCS MVP Randy Arozarena. If he doesn’t pick things up, the Rays could be left out of the MLB playoffs schedule for the first time since 2018.
The Yankees’ problem has not been their stars, it has been pretty much everyone else. Aaron Judge and Juan Soto continue to hit at MVP-like levels but the rest of the lineup just hasn’t done anything to help out over the past few weeks.
Also, surprisingly, New York’s rotation — which was one of the best in baseball for most of the season — has really struggled since Gerrit Cole returned from an MLB injury. It’s funny how that stuff works!
Rays vs Yankees 
Day/Time:
Location: Yankee Stadium; Bronx, New York
Tampa Bay’s Rotation Is Solid
While not much has gone right for the Rays in 2024, the starting rotation has kept them above water, pun intended.
A key thing to consider for Rays vs Yankees MLB picks is that their starters have been pretty good and the two guys who did pitch poorly — Aaron Civale and Tyler Alexander — are now with the Milwaukee Brewers and Triple-A Durham Bulls, respectively.
Tampa Bay will throw Zach Eflin on Friday followed by Taj Bradley, Shane Baz and Zack Littell. Baz will only be making his third start back from Tommy John surgery and Littell has given up a bit too many hits, but Eflin has been steady as always and Bradley has been electric.
- The second-year righty is striking out over 11 batters per nine innings and has allowed two runs or fewer in each of his last seven starts.
Granted, Eflin has a tough MLB matchup on Friday against Cole but the Yankees’ ace has been very inconsistent in the five starts he has made so far, basically alternating between good and bad.
He’s coming off a strong showing in Baltimore before the break while Eflin held this Yankees team to four hits and two runs (one earned) in the Rays’ win eight days ago. The MLB pipeline might be producing a pitcher’s duel for Friday night.
Can Yankees Get Help From Non-Stars?
The million-dollar question for the Yankees, and for any Rays vs Yankees MLB picks, is if New York can somehow get production from the rest of its lineup.
Giancarlo Stanton and Anthony Rizzo are still hurt, Anthony Volpe is mired in a huge slump, Alex Verdugo and Oswaldo Cabrera have cooled off after good starts and Gleyber Torres and DJ LeMahieu continue to bring nothing to the table.
One guy who has stepped up as of late and given New York some much-needed pop is rookie Ben Rice, who is now serving as the Yankees’ leadoff hitter.
A slugging first baseman isn’t necessarily who you’d imagine as the guy leading off in that lineup but Aaron Boone simply doesn’t have any other viable options at this point. If Rice can keep hitting for power, then the New York lineup become a bit more difficult to get through.
He can’t do it by himself, though, as the Yankees desperately need the likes of Volpe, Verdugo, Torres and others to get on base and drive guys in.
Take Rays With Good Value
The MLB public betting odds are very much in favor of the -192 Yankees but you should take the Rays to win straight-up as +160 odds. Yes, Cole is a very good pitcher and New York is a talented MLB team but that’s a lot of value on the Rays and it’s hard to pass up on.
Tampa Bay hasn’t played to its potential yet and, even so, that kind of disrespect isn’t completely warranted for a rivalry series in which the Rays have a bunch of very good pitchers on the mound.
For MLB betting news, odds analysis, and more, visit Point Spreads Sports Magazine.
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