Boston Red Sox vs. New York Yankees Prediction: Will Gerrit Cole Get Revenge on Opening Day?
Boston Red Sox vs. New York Yankees Prediction: Will Gerrit Cole Get Revenge on Opening Day?
Mother Nature pushed back the anticipated Opening Day matchup between the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees by a day, but there should still be plenty of fireworks in the first of 19 meetings between these bitter rivals.
Click Here for Red Sox vs Yankees Odds
The last time the Yankees and Red Sox met on the diamond, a berth in the ALDS was at stake, as New York and Boston played the one-game Wild Card Playoff game at Fenway Park. The Red Sox prevailed 6-2 in that matchup, as Boston jumped on Yankees ace Gerrit Cole for three runs in just two innings.
Will Cole and the Yankees exact their revenge on Opening Day, or will the Red Sox get the early edge in the season series?
Red Sox vs. Yankees Prediction
Much has been made of Gerrit Cole’s decline in spin rate and other metrics after Major League Baseball’s crackdown on tacky substances. However, Cole still finished with a league-leading 16 wins and a 5.93 SO/W ratio en route to a second-place finish in the AL Cy Young voting.
Cole’s career 2.63 ERA and 1.000 WHIP in March and April is his lowest of any month. And if you are worried about Cole not being stretched out enough to last deep into the game, he has more innings pitched per start in March/April than he does in May or June.
Many will be concerned about the Yankees’ chances, given how much Boston roughed up Cole in the Wild Card game. However, managers have much shorter leashes in elimination games, and Cole could have churned out decent statistics if he were allowed to throw more innings.
Conversely, Red Sox starter Nathan Eovaldi was lights out against the Yankees in 2021. Eovaldi went 2-2 with a 3.71 ERA in six starts against his former club and accrued 34 strikeouts in 34 innings. Eovaldi did allow five home runs in those 34 innings, but we do not expect the ball to carry at Yankee Stadium in the crisp April air like it will in the summer months.
The under is 4-1-1 in the last six meetings in the Bronx between these teams and is 10-3-1 in their previous 14 meetings overall. However, instead of siding with the full-game under, we are taking the bullpens out of the equation and are backing the first five innings under as we expect a pitcher’s duel between Cole and Eovaldi.
Boston Red Sox vs. New York Yankees Pick
PICK: First Five Innings UNDER 4.5 Runs (-118) (Bet $118 to Win $100)